How To Cut Felt With the Cricut Explore

 Really, I tried it! And it works! It’s fun and it’s cheap. Here’s how to cut FELT with your Cricut Explore!

These darling masks can be found in the image library in Cricut Design Space. Just search “animal masks” and they’ll come right up. (I’m dying to make the whole set!)

The Cricut can cut FELT? Yes ma’am! I have to admit I have a ton of felt in my stash so I couldn’t wait to try cutting it. Here’s what you’ll need:

• felt (found in the 9X12 sheets or by the yard)
• iron-on stabilizer such as Heat ‘N Bond Ultra Hold
• Cricut Deep Cut Blade
• Cricut Strong Grip Cutting Mat

Start by ironing the stabilizer to the felt. The paper side faces up and it only takes a few seconds to adhere with a medium-high heat on the iron. Make SURE to peel off the paper after it cools before cutting with the Cricut! The picture above shows that it will leave a transparent shiny layer on the felt. This side goes down (touching the sticky part) on your cutting mat.

Set your dial to “custom materials” and change the setting on your computer to “felt with backing.” Don’t forget to put your deep cut blade in! If you’ve never changed the blade, it’s very easy and there are several YouTube videos to show you how.

I am totally impressed with how precise the cuts are!
Here’s the cute little bear nose – you can see how small it is.

The rest of the cutting was fairly simple – the thing that took the most time was just ironing on the stabilizer and making sure my piece of felt was the correct size. Here’s a tip for saving space (and time) using synced layers. On the right side you’ll see this menu. Select “sync” and you will see each layer of your project. For my two masks, I wanted to use the same color felt for the bunny mask and the bear nose. Drag the layer to combine them so that will cut out on the same cut! I actually moved the nose over so it saved space and was between the bunny ears, too.

Once all my pieces were cut, it was so easy to put them together because of that iron-on adhesive already being there! Don’t forget that the back main piece of the mask has adhesive too, so lay it on top of the leftover backing (shiny side) from your stabilizer or you’ll have it ironed to your ironing board! I simply layered them and ironed one layer at a time.

 Use hot glue to attach ribbon or elastic to each side of the mask and they’ll be ready for lots of imaginary play!

The kids loved playing with their new masks.
I love that they’re small and light and won’t take up too much room in the dress-up box!

If you look closely, you’ll see the Princess Crown and Pirate Eye Patch I made for the kids last week here:

Don’t forget you can get everything you need, including the new Cricut Explore Air, at JoAnn Fabric and Craft!
We have another gift card giveaway coming up soon to help you get creative!