Creative Crafters Tip of the Week – Using Felt

Yes! Your Cricut can cut felt. Felt is a popular material for crafts, and a Cricut is great for cutting it precisely. There are different types of felt like wool, acrylic, and blend felt, and your Cricut can handle them all, though results may vary (I'll explain later). For cutting felt, it's best to use a Cricut Maker or Cricut Maker 3. These machines have a special Cricut Rotary Blade just for cutting fabric and delicate stuff like felt. The Cricut Explore models can cut felt too (but only some types), though not as precisely as the Cricut Maker series. So, whether you're a beginner or a pro, using a Cricut Maker or Cricut Maker 3 with the Rotary Blade is a reliable way to cut felt for your projects.

Before we get into cutting felt with your Cricut, let's talk about the types of felt you can use. Not all felt is the same, and different types will give you different results.

Craft felt or acrylic felt is the most common. It's cheap and easy to find, but it's not super durable.
Wool felt is more expensive but tougher and softer. It's great for nicer projects.

Blended wool felt is a mix of wool and synthetic fibers. It's cheaper than pure wool felt but still soft. It's good if you want different colors or if you're on a budget.

100% PES felt or polyester felt is perfect for all sorts of crafting projects, including cutting with a Cricut.

You need to get your felt ready before cutting with your Cricut.
First, cut your felt to the size you want. I use special scissors or a cutting mat and a rotary cutter. Make sure your felt is flat and wrinkle-free, so iron it gently if needed.

Put your felt on your cutting mat, making sure there are no wrinkles or bubbles. I use a tool to press it down gently.

Now, you're ready to choose your blade and mat for cutting.

For cutting felt with your Cricut Maker, you can use two blades:
Cricut fine-point blade: It's okay, but not the best for felt.

Cricut rotary blade: This one is perfect for all types of felt.

For mats, the standard grip one (green) is usually good, but if your felt is thick or textured, use the strong grip one (purple).

Once everything's ready, it's time to cut your felt with your Cricut Maker. The reason we like the Maker is the fact you can use the Rotary Cutting Blade.

Pick your design in Cricut Design Space and set up your machine.

Place a layer of transfer tape sticky side up on the mat and remove the backing. (the felt bits will be on the transfer paper and not your mat when you have finished cutting.

Put your felt on your mat and load it into your Cricut Maker.

Start the cutting process, and the machine will do the rest. Once it's done, carefully remove your cut design.

If things aren't going smoothly, here are some tips:

• Check your blade: If your cuts aren't clean, adjust or change your blade. 
• Use the right mat: Make sure your mat matches your felt. 
• Keep things clean: Clean your mat and blade regularly. 
• Cut twice if needed: Sometimes, cutting a second time helps.

I love using felt and with all of these tips (learned from experience), it is a super material to work with and gives such appeal to projects. As a note, I generally buy the acrylic felt at the dollar store because I do not use big sheets, I am mostly making flowers as decor. For the larger sheets and wool material, I had to go to a sewing specialty shop.