For Christmas I got a Silhouette Cameo 4! I have been so excited to try out the new rotary blade! The first thing I did was order one from Amazon! You can find that here.
What does the Rotary Blade do?
The rotary blade is awesome because it cuts fabric without a backing! I had tried to cut fabric with my regular blade, but then it had a thick backing on it so it was mostly just good to iron on other fabric.
The rotary blade is how Silhouette America solved that problem! I started thinking about how I could now make quiet books, stuffed animals, cut sewing patterns, finger puppets, bows, leather earrings, and felt flowers. There are so many options!
Designs that cut best with the Rotary Blade
I have found designs that have more continuous curved lines to cut quick and easy. More intricate designs take a lot more time to cut. Designs with a lot of corners also take longer to cut because the blade has to pivot to make the corners. I have mostly used it to cut bow designs and flower designs and all of them have worked well.
How to use the Rotary Blade
1- The rotary blade can only be used in the Cameo 4 in the 2nd tool slot.
2- There is a safety feature on the rotary blade, so before you put it in the tool carriage you’ll need to screw the end up so you can see the blade.
3- Make your design (in the pictures here, I am mostly using a rolled flower design)
4- Put your material on the cutting mat. Silhouette America recommends using a strong grip cutting mat with the rotary blade. I used a regular grip mat, but a strong grip would’ve been better! The felt made the tack fade quickly, but I read on Silhouette School that you can put contact paper on the back of the fabric so it won’t ruin your mat! That is genius!
5- Open the send panel in the design software.
6- Change the settings on the Tool 2 section (above you can see that on the right half)
7- Click over to Line and click on the little 2 in a box for tool 2 and change the settings to Felt Rotary Cut
8- After this is all set, you’ll see extra lines appear with the design (like the above picture). You need those little lines because those are where the rotary blade will change directions to cut the design correctly.
9- Once the machine is done cutting, check to see if the design is cut through before you take the mat out. Then if you need to send it a second time, it will cut in the exact same place.
10- If the design is totally cut, you can take the material off of the mat and turn it into whatever you want!
Rotary Blade love
I have LOVED this blade for cutting felt! I am slightly obsessed with felt bows and flowers. Just follow my Instagram and you’ll get to see all of the many I make. Here are just a few
