It's a Maker!

When Cricut released it's newest machine, the Maker, I was totally intrigued. Team Cricut seemed to have engineered the machine of my dreams--especially in fabric cutting. Years ago, an infomercial touting the Cricut Expression's ability to cut fabric pulled me into this crafting family. And, to make a long story short, I have used that ability with all of my Cricut babies thus far. Pretty secure and comfortable here. So, despite all of the Maker's qualities, I didn't think I needed it; but my husband did! (Love him!)

Enter my Maker!

As I experienced the unboxing, I was amazed by the attention to detail and the care taken in the packaging. It just made me feel special. More importantly, it was obvious that Team Cricut was very proud of their new product. 

Unboxed and touchable, my Maker truly appeared as a beautiful product.

But, my initial experience wasn't over. Inside of the "getting started box" I found two pleasant surprises: a REAL book and what I really was looking for---the rotary cutting assembly.  

The book of instructions was filled with beautiful photos and excellent directions. I couldn't help but be pleased with the fact that there was time and talent used to give me a reference book that I could peruse and touch! I saw the beauty of the photography again as a reflection of Cricut's pride. So far. My pleasure was steadily increasing. But, I had to ask myself, " Would this machine really allow me to be a more productive "maker" of crafts?"

It seemed the best way to decide was not to compare my ExploreAir and the Maker, but rather to compare the process of making something. And not just something new, but this felt flower pot originally designed by me and made with my Explore. Now I would make it with the Maker.

A little background on this project. In 2015, I designed this project in Design Space to be presented as a workshop on cutting various fabrics with the Explore.  Always one to find a way to do what I want, I had experimented or several months on the best way to prepare and cut felt on my Explore. My process worked pretty well. But it was tedious and messy; the felt had to be treated with a wet stabilizing mixture, dried completely, and finally have fusible applied to the "back". Depending on humidity it could take 2-3 days simply for preparation. And after all that, the felt was stiff and rubbery! But my Explore could cut it -- it worked. 

So, how did the process compare on the Maker? (Okay....I really wanted to use the rotary blade and the fabric mat. I'll admit it!) To truly compare, I even used the left-over 9 x 12" felt squares from the purchased at Joann's for the original project. Design Space still had my original file so I opened it, and went to work.

Advertised to not need fusible with the rotary blade, I did no preparation of the felt other than removing the store stickers. I placed it on the mat and took care that there were no bubbles or ripples in the fabric. In Design Space simplicity, I followed the prompts, loaded the mat, chose "felt" from the materials list, pressed"Go" and held my breath. 

My Maker started singing to me! It was a sweet sound....seriously! And in just a few moments my leaves were finished and perfectly cut!

The pink mat released the felt quite easily. But, the default pressure seemed a bit high for the type of felt I was using. When the mat for the petals was ready to cut I decreased the pressure. To my pleasure, the flower petals also cut quickly and precisely. Crisp points, both inner and outer. What can I say: attention to detail! 

I had read that there would be fibers of the felt embedded in the blade marks on the mat so I was prepared for my mat to look like it did.  No problem--Cricut recommends using heavy duty transfer tape to remove these fibers and preserve the mat and cleaning the mat took a very few minutes. And my mat was ready for my next project. 

I am in love; pure and simple. The Maker's capabilities have taken the process of cutting my felt from 2 days to just few minutes with picture perfect cuts! Team Cricut has a right to be proud of this one, from its looks to it's name. It is truly a Maker and it promises to help me become a more productive maker in the process. 

Until next time, Jeannie