More Die Cut Tests

I came home last night after seeng the play "Gees Bend" with my mom to a new comment on my die cutting adventures.

Crafty Chica said...
love them!!! i don't know why, but i've never gotten the hang of using a die cut machine, i always do something wrong. i'm a dork, i know! but you have inspired me to try again!!! your tags are just plain COOL!!

That's the Crafty Chica, Cathy Cano-Murillo, author and crafty rock star.

Then there was this question this morning:

Elaine said...
Do you think this machine would do thin plastic for stencils?

So here is a few more tests and clarifications.

I don't have any actual template plastic, but I did still have the packaging for my new dies so I took one apart to use as a test. This plastic is pretty much the same as the template stuff you buy at the store as "template plastic".


There is sort of a trick to die cutting. I guess I did so much in my teaching days that I forgot how we had to learn how to do it. We probably had a day long session about this, the laminator, and the ins-and-outs of the overhead projector in one of my teacher prep courses. This machine has a smaller presser than the commercial die cutters I've used before.

You layer the material, on top of the little cutting mat and center the die over them both so you'll have a die cut sandwich. I pressed three times moving the sandwich carefully, only touching the plastic cutting board base so the material wouldn't slip. You have to be sure to press the arm all the way down.



Yes! It cuts template plastic just as well as felt, fabric, and interfaced fabric!

Last night, however, I couldn't sleep, so I watched the second half of the Cricut infomercial. It's probably one of THESE.
It's very alluring and that thing is really popular. It really seems like papercrafting supplies are taking over and needle-and-thread fabric people like me are having a harder and harder time finding our stuff. I guess I don't help things by not buying tools and gadgets very often...

Here's a video of a different product, the Sizzix Big Kick. It's in French, but it's quick.

I think the advantage of this machine is that it doesn't have the big long arm, so it will stow away more easily. It will hold larger dies as well as the smaller ones, but that plastic handle looks flimsy and I don't like to do all that cranking.