What Can You Cut With A Rotary Cutter?

A rotary cutter is a tool used in patchwork & quilting, sewing and dressmaking to quickly and accurately cut multiple layers of fabric. It is more accurate than a pair of scissors since one continuous cut is made rather than a series of cuts with a pair of scissors.

What should a rotary cutter always be used on?

Tool Basics

To rotary-cut fabrics you need three basic pieces of equipment-a rotary cutter, acrylic ruler, and cutting mat. A rotary cutter should always be used with a cutting mat designed specifically for rotary cutting. The mat protects the cutting surface and keeps the fabric from shifting while it’s being cut.

Why do you need a cutting mat?

Why Use A Cutting Mat? A cutting mat protects your work surface so that it does not receive any marks from the rotary cutter’s blade. It also prolongs the life of the blade by keeping it from becoming dull. Many cutting mats also have grid lines or rulers, which helps you to measure as you cut.

Are rotary cutters good for dressmaking?

If you cut a lot of straight lines, a rotary cutter is your literal best friend. It’s so nice to be able to cut as you’re measuring with a good ruler. With a rotary cutter, you’ll always get clean, ultra straight lines. I love making bias tape with a rotary cutter.

Can you use a rotary cutter on curves?

I recommend using the 18 mm Olfa, straight handle rotary cutter for cutting the concave or inside curve of the Creative Curves Ellipse Rulers (2″ X 4″ and 1 1/2″ X 3″ oval curves). The 28 mm rotary cutter will also work but the 18mm makes it much easier to cut the inside oval curves.

What is the meaning of rotary cutter and mat?

A rotary cutter is a tool generally used by quilters to cut fabric. It consists of a handle with a circular blade that rotates, thus the tool’s name. … Several layers of fabric can be cut simultaneously with a sharp (fresh) blade, making it easier to cut out patchwork pieces of the same shape and size than with scissors.

What is a rotary mat?

A Rotary Mat is used for cutting fabrics with a Rotary Cutter and helps to protect the cutting blade. It is also called a “self-healing” mat because, while the blade cuts through fabric into the mat, the mat is not sliced, it remains a flat cutting surface.

How many layers of fabric can a rotary cutter cut?

A sharp rotary cutter blade should be able to cut cleanly through four layers of fabric at a time.

How do I choose a rotary cutter?

When choosing a rotary cutter, it’s important to consider what it is you’re cutting. A 60 mm blade is great for powering through thick fabric, while a slender 28 mm blade makes cutting intricate patterns easy. To bring scrap fabric ideas and other sewing projects to life, rely on the daily versatility of a 45 mm blade.

What size rotary cutter do I need?

The most common sizes of blades are 18mm, 28mm, 45mm, and 60mm. The larger the blade size, the more fabric you can cut, and the faster you can cut it. If you know you’ll be cutting yards and yards of fabric, you’ll probably want to reach for a 60mm rotary cutter.

Can you use a rotary cutter on jeans?

Turn your pants inside out. Use a fabric pen and your fabric scissors or rotary cutter to mark and cut your leg 1” below your folded hem. … Use your sewing machine to sew all the way around the leg opening, taking the pins out as you sew, sewing 1/4” from the top edge of your folded hem line.

What is an advantage of using a rotary cutter instead of fabric shears or scissors?

Both the scissor and rotary cutter are excellent cutting tools. However, each have their own strengths. The rotary cutter makes extremely precise and clean cuts, and is best for straight lines and wide curves. Scissors, on the other hand, are good for small curves and intricate details with a lot of tight angles.

Is rotary cutter good?

An 18 millimeter rotary cutter is good for small, detailed cuts and for cutting curves. A 28 millimeter model won’t cut quite as fine a detail, but it will slice through several layers. … It is still relatively maneuverable and capable of cutting through many layers of material at the same time.

How long do cutting mats last?

I’ve been buying cutting mats for four years now – always on Amazon – and I can tell you they usually last at least 3-6 months depending on how often you cut and what you’re cutting. These mats had lost their stick so quickly, even the cover sheet was not sticking to it.