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Cutting Fabric with Silhouette CAMEO and Terial Magic Tutorial

The Silhouette cutting machines are gaining more and more popularity in the sewing and applique world. It's no wonder when you consider how crisp of cut lines you can get when cutting fabric with Silhouette CAMEO. To cut fabric without fraying with a Silhouette cutting machine, you need to know the trick! Lucky for you - I am going to spill it!

cut fabric silhouette cameo tutorial, cutting fabric silhouette portrait

Not only will you need a Silhouette fabric cutting blade, but you'll also need Terial Magic which will essentially give the fabric a paper-like texture temporarily! If you're planning on applying the fabric to another fabric surface, you'll also want to add Heat N' Bond or another iron on adhesive.


Let's walk through this Silhouette fabric tutorial from the beginning. Get your Terial Magic (snip down the straw if necessary) and grab a large freezer back. Place the material that you wish to cut into the bag and spray it with the Terial Magic until the entire piece of fabric is damp.

Terial magic fabric spray review silhouette cameo fabric tutorial

Remove the fabric from the bag and make sure it's completely covered with the Terial Magic fabric spray. Then let it hang 'dry' for about 15 minutes.  I say 'dry' because it's not going to dry in 15 minutes, but the spray fabric stabilizer will soak into the material.

terial magic cutting fabric silhouette cameo cut settings

Next you're going to apply heat until the fabric dries.  This can be done with a heat press or iron. Place the damp material between two teflon sheets and apply heat.


As the heat is applied the fabric will both stiffen and dry.



If you are going to apply the fabric to other surface you'll need some kind of fabric adhesive. Go ahead and iron or press on your iron on adhesive to the back side of the fabric.  I would suggest Heat N' Bond or Silhouette brand.  If you do not need an adhesive backing for your fabric - you can skip this step.

silhouette cameo applique fabric embroidery cut fabric

Peel off the paper backing from the iron on adhesive and prepare to cut.

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Place the fabric onto your Silhouette cutting mat with the right side up.  Make sure you are using a Silhouette fabric blade to get the best fabric cut with the Silhouette machine.

Silhouette CAMEO fabric cut settings tutorial

From the Cut Settings window in Silhouette Studio select "Fabric - Thin Like Cotton" from the material list and adjust the blade settings according to the recommend cut settings. Send the design to cut.


When the design is finished cutting, weed away the excess fabric to expose your design.

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You can now either pick up your fabric pieces individually to move them onto the surface where they will be applied or you can use high temperature tape to keep them in position while moving them onto the surface.

high termperature tape silhouette cameo move fabric pieces

If you use Heat n' Bond, you can now use your iron or heat press to quickly apply heat to bond the fabric onto the surface.  I usually press at 305 for about 20 seconds - always covering with a teflon sheet.


And that's all there is to getting a clean cut on fabric with Silhouette CAMEO! It's amazing how much it cuts like paper when using the Terial Magic with the fabric blade (and Heat N Bond for adhesive) - and it washes out so the fabric won't stay stiff!

silhouette cameo fabric applique fabric cut settings heat n bond

Here's a close up so you can see just how clean those cut lines are on the fabric.

silhouette cameo terial magic silhouette portrait cut fabric applique


Note: This post may contain affiliate links. By clicking on them and purchasing products through my links, I receive a small commission. That's what helps fund Silhouette School so I can keep buying new Silhouette-related products to show you how to get the most out of your machine!


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8 comments

  1. How do you keep the edges from staying after its been cut?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey! Thanks so much for the tutorial. I am a little confused. In this past tutorial, you said you should not apply the heat n bond to the fabric prior to cutting because it would either not cut or would gum up your cutting blade. However, in this tutorial it looks like you recommend applying the heat n bond prior to cutting. I wasn't sure if these are two different products or if something had changed since the last tutorial. Would you please clarify? Thanks so much!

    ReplyDelete
  3. If you want to do a HTV offset over the fabric edge, at what point would you do this? Will heat pressing the HTV cause any problems silica as loosening the heat n bond?

    ReplyDelete
  4. One does not need to use Terial Magic in conjunction with Heat N Bond to cut fabric. HNB does that all by itself and does just a good a job as using Terial Magic with no adhesive does.

    One of the other issues with putting TM and HNB together is that HNB doesn't actually fully glue to the back of the fabric because somehow TM interferes with that process, the glue seems to just sit there for a bit and actually comes off quite easily, so one doesn't get a permanent stick like you need with HNB either.

    The only reason to use Terial Magic is if you don't want an adhesive like HNB and you plan to stitch the edges. One can instead use a "glue stick" to temporarily hold shapes in place until it is stitched in place.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi from New Zealand. So Terial Magic isn't in an aerosol and is non toxic? So I should be able to buy some in USA next year when we visit and bring it home in my luggage?? Hopefully I can. And where would be the best place to buy it in New York? Thanks

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  6. I have used the TM on my fabric, a new blade, and new mat however, my fabric keeps moving as the machine is cutting. How do I get my fabric not to move during the cutting process? Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just need to make sure it's stuck down really well to a sticky cutting mat.

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  7. Do you have a recommendation for temperature of the heat press?

    ReplyDelete

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