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Electric Rotary Cutter for Fabric - a favorite tool

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At Penguin & Fish, we cut a LOT of fabric for our embroidery craft kits.

For years we used the standard, quilting 45mm rotary cutter, self-healing cutting mat, and acrylic quilting ruler. But with the thousands of fabric squares that we were producing, the 45mm rotary cutter wasn't "cutting it" anymore. The blades were expensive and dulled quickly, the cutting mats got chewed up, and all the leaning over was just plain too hard on the body. Not to mention the constant fear of slipping and cutting a finger. I've seen too many horror stories on Facebook of people who've done that. Eep!

It was time for an upgrade.

After a bunch of research we landed on an electric rotary cutter for fabric, the 1500FR 4” OCTA ROUND KNIFE CLOTH CUTTING MACHINE by Reliable.

I'm so happy with it.

To see the electric fabric cutter in action here's our little love letter to the Reliable electric rotary cutter that we made for TikTok:

If you're like me when I first saw it, I thought it looked big and scary. But there are lots of built-in features that make it easier to use and safer than the traditional 45mm manual rotary cutter.

 

Features:

 

• First of all, the blade is 4 inches in diameter so more than twice as big as a 45mm rotary cutter.

• The blade is an octagon shape which I didn't know existed. The combination of the octagonal blade and a small, built-in, spring-loaded lower blade, prevents the fabric from jamming. How cool.

• It has a built-in sharpener so you won't be constantly buying new blades. It comes with an extra blade, but I'm still using the original blade still, and we've cut bolts and bolts of fabric.

• It has a guard in front of the blade that automatically moves to rest on top of the fabric, so there's no chance of getting a finger in the way.

• The cutter sits on a thin baseplate. This took a little getting used to because you actually have to tuck it under the fabric before you start cutting. The baseplate protects the cutting surface, so you eliminate the need for cutting mats. We still use our cutting mats for measuring, but they're not needed for the blade.

• The electric rotary cutter itself is a bit heavy. However, the baseplate has tiny wheels in it so your body doesn't actually need to take on any of the weight. The wheels help it glide through the fabric without any pressure at all. No more sore arms and shoulders.

 

Pros (compared to a 45mm manual rotary cutter):
 

• Speed! The cutting that used to take us two hours now takes about 20 minutes.

• Can cut through an inch worth of fabric like butter.

• The physical strain on the body is drastically reduced.

• No need for cutting mats or rulers. This actually took a little getting used to. You don't use a ruler like you would with a 45mm manual rotary cutter. Instead, you draw a line on your fabric where you'd like to cut and then you just follow that line. The wheels on the base plate allow you to go straight or on a curve easily.  

 

Cons:
 

• It's a bit loud. However, that's expected with a motor I guess.

• It has an electrical cord that you need to get out of the way when you cut.

• I haven't tested this, but I'm not sure I would use this cutter if I needed super fine cutting, like something that can't be 1/32" of an inch off. Like super fine quilting piecework. 

• It's a bit hard at first to see the line on the fabric when you start cutting. After a while, you get used to it. If the blade guard were transparent that would be an improvement.

Our process of cutting fabric for our embroidery kits starts with regular bolts of 100% cotton muslin fabric. After we carefully lay out not one but two bolts of fabric on our cutting table, we mark our cutting lines with a pencil and prepare to cut. With only a few quick cuts, we get our 10x10-inch squares. Two bolts will yield a little over 300 squares!

The unbleached 100% cotton muslin fabric we use in our embroidery kits is our favorite fabric to stitch with. The weave is not too tight and not too loose, making it perfect for beginners and seasoned crafters alike. 

 

Frequently Asked Questions about our fabric:


What does “unbleached” mean?
- Unbleached fabric means that it hasn’t been bleached to get that stark white color. This fabric is more of a cream color and has natural flecks in it.

Is this fabric pre-washed?
- This fabric is not prewashed

Can I sew with this fabric?
- Yes! We’ve seen our patterns on bags, pillows, and even sewn into quilts. However, since this piece of fabric is not a perfect square, and measures slightly larger than 10 inches, it will need to be trimmed to get the exact size needed for a sewing project.