bag n"style: Fabric & Die Cut Machines

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This is my Accucut die cut machine center. I have owned it for many years having bought it for a business where I needed one. I closed the business due to my husband's illness, but kept the machine because I love crafts and thought I'd find a use later. I certainly have! Over many years, my daughter has picked up various dies for me on Ebay when they are cheap and now I have a good collection to do anything with.

Throughout this blog you will see me use die cuts in all kinds of ways. I am a 'think outside the box' person and use everything I own in more ways than one. For someone who loves arts and crafts. a die cut machine is invaluable.

For this tutorial I will be using a Cuttlebug machine because they are widely available and cost effective.

How I wished I'd owned a die cutting machine when my daughter Kim was small. I would have made all kinds of things with words, numbers and fun shapes on them. Instead I had to do all my fun decorating the slow, hard way. Appliqué. I'm sure there are thousands of women who bought a small die cut machine during the height of the scrap booking days and now they sit idle. I purchased a compact machine for scrapbooking because the dies were inexpensive and many types are available. Now it's time to get your idle machine out again and have a lot of fun.

You can use up scraps of fabric for die cuts, but the most important thing you need to buy is a product called 'iron on adhesive Heat n Bond Ultrahold'. I love this product because it irons on without difficulty and holds. The paper back comes off easily and the glue remains on the fabric, not the paper. Simply cut a piece slightly smaller than the scrap of fabric you are using and iron. Done! Important. Cutting the Ultrabond smaller ensures you don't glue anything to your ironing board. When it's cooled down, run it through your die cut machine with a die of your choice.

Many dies have more than one thing on them, such as alphabet dies, so cut out a piece large enough to fit over the area you want, lay your see-through plastic sheet on top and roll through.

Here you can see I placed two pieces on two different letters and laid the clear plate on top before rolling through.

You can also use satin ribbon to die cut and this opens up a wider variety of colors and textures to choosed from. Be sure to cut the heat and bond slightly smaller than your ribbon to avoid gluing it down to your ironing board.