How to use a Cricut
If you’re into crafting, you’re probably familiar with the Cricut (pronounced “Cricket”). Debuting in 2003, these electronic cutting machines have been flying off the shelves in recent years — and with good reason. From the comfort of your own home or office, the Cricut enables you to design and carve out intricate patterns using tons of different materials.
Cricuts have so many applications that the possibilities are endless, and DIYers across the ambition spectrum are sharing their ideas in online forums. Whatever your skill level, Cricut can help you make personalized, professional-quality projects with ease.
What is a Cricut machine?
A Cricut is a home die-cutting machine, or cutting plotter, made by Provo Craft and Novelty Inc., that electronically cuts out designs from paper, card stock and other materials. Designed for hobbyists, Cricut machines connect to your computer via Bluetooth or USB or to the Cricut Design Space app on your phone.
Designing
Cricut machines connect wirelessly to your computer and come with free design software that allows you to create and upload designs onto your computer. This user-friendly software is called Cricut Design Space and is available for Windows/Mac and iOS/Android apps. Design Space also gives you access to hundreds of pre-made designs to cut with your machine, including sewing patterns, although not all of these designs are free.
Once you are satisfied with your design, it’s time to select the appropriate tool attachment.
Tools
The Cricut machine houses a mechanism for connecting different tools. Some of them come with the machines and some have to be purchased separately. There are cutting tools, or blades, which are suited to different types of materials. These include the standard fine-point blade that comes with every model, a deep-cut blade that can cut materials up to 1 1/2 millimeters (such as foam, magnet sheets, cardboard), a rotary blade and a knife blade.
While the main function of the Cricut is cutting, there are also attachments that enable it to engrave, score, deboss, perforate, draw and write. These capabilities vary by machine.
Materials
Depending on which Cricut machine you own, there are hundreds of materials you can work with. Some of the more popular materials are cardstock, paper, iron-on or adhesive vinyl, bonded and unbonded fabric, balsa wood, felt, faux leather and leather.
Once you have finalized your design in Design Space and attached the appropriate tool, you can place your material of choice onto the cutting mat. The software will talk you through the whole process, making sure you have enough material and that it is correctly placed. You just press a button on the screen and your project will begin cutting.
Which Cricut is best?
The three most popular Cricut models on the market right now are the Explore Air 2, Cricut Maker and Cricut Joy. They all have different capabilities and choosing one will depend on what kind of projects you have in mind and how much money you are willing to spend.
Explore Air 2
The Explore Air 2, a middle-of-the-road model, is Cricut’s most popular machine and at around $230 is perfect for most DIY applications. It is designed to handle more than 100 hobby materials, like card stock, paper and iron-on vinyl, and it comes with tools that you can use for cutting, etching and writing. It has a cut width of 12 inches. Worth noting: This model requires a stabilizer (purchased separately) in order to cut unbonded fabrics.
Per Cricut, the Explore, Explore Air and Explore Air 2 have a double tool holder enabling you to cut and write/score in one step. The Explore One does it in two steps. The Air models also have built-in Bluetooth, whereas Explore One and Explore require a Cricut Wireless Bluetooth Adapter to cut wirelessly.
Cricut Maker
Cricut Maker is Cricut’s premium model and retails at around $400. Designed for professionals and crafters working with heavy fabrics or wood, it can work with over 300 materials, has 12 functions, and like Explore Air 2, has a cut width of 12 inches.
The Maker has a new stabilizing mechanism that, per Cricut, enables the gears of the drive housing to interlock with the gears of the Adaptive Tool System to manoeuvre the blade, precisely controlling the direction and matching the cut pressure to the material. This enables the rotary blade to cut unbonded fabrics and the knife blade to cut thicker materials (up to 3/32 inches) such as leather or balsa wood. The Maker can also score a number of materials using the Scoring Wheel (an improvement on the Scoring Stylus).
Cricut Joy
In 2020, Cricut debuted the compact Joy model, which is about half the size of other models, which is handy, if your workspace is limited. The Cricut Joy comes with the standard fine-point blade and a pen for writing and drawing. It’s cut width is 4 1/2 inches. The Joy has its own line of Cricut Joy Smart materials, which allow you to cut without a mat and comes with a dedicated Card Mat, which makes it easy to make custom cut-out and/or drawn greeting cards. At around $179, it’s still quite expensive, especially given its limited functions, but it’s handy for most common crafts and it works with more than 50 materials.
What can you make with a Cricut?
Cricut machines lend themselves to a vast array of applications. The most popular are:
Greeting cards
Paper crafts and art projects
Vinyl iron-ons for clothes
Stickers and labels
Customized stencils
Party decorations (especially for weddings)
You can scour Etsy, Pinterest, YouTube and crafting blogs for inspiration from other Cricut crafters and you can also browse Cricut’s own project library. If you’re concerned about the add-on costs, Cricut offers Cricut Access, a three-tier subscription service, which gives you access to hundreds of fonts, graphics and discounts on materials and extra tools. Cricut also sells its machines in a variety of model-specific bundles, which can keep costs down.
Bryony Gilbey is a writer for BestReviews. BestReviews is a product review company with a singular mission: to help simplify your purchasing decisions and save you time and money.
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