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3 Things I Learned about Cutting Leather with Cricut Maker

Filed Under: Project Tutorials

If you follow me over on Instagram, you’ll know that I spent the majority of last week learning the ins and outs of Cricut’s newest machine – the Cricut Maker.

What is different about the Cricut Maker from other Cricut machines?

  1. Greater cutting force. The cutting force on a Cricut Maker is 4 kilograms of force – which is about 10 times more than a Cricut Explore. (Both the Silhouette Cameo 3 and Silhouette Curio have a cutting force of 210 grams – significantly less than the Cricut Maker.)
  2. Adaptive Tools. Cricut has stated that additional tools will be released for Cricut’s Maker. This would make it an “all-in-one” tool with no need to upgrade.
  3. Knife Tool. This adaptive tool cuts through thicker materials, but is not being released until Winter, 2017.
  4. Rotary Tool. One of the first in the line of adaptive tools is the rotary blade. This tool functions the same as a handheld rotary tool and allows you to cut fabrics and heavy materials like leather.
  5. Access to Sewing Patterns. With the rotary tool, you can now cut fabric without any type of backing or preparation. Cricut has teamed up with several pattern makers (including Simplicity) to bring patterns to Design Space.
  6. Dial Removed. The dial found on the top to set materials has been removed.

*These are the highlights of the differences. For a full list, see Cricut’s chart. Image credit: cricut.com.

3 Things I Learned about Cutting Leather with Cricut Maker - Explore - Air - by cuttingforbusiness.com

Tips for Cutting Leather with Cricut Maker

Last week, I made two projects: a leather wallet and a bookmark. Here’s my tips to cutting leather with your Cricut Maker:

  • Make sure your material is stuck to the mat well – very well! Once you put your leather onto your mat, use a brayer tool or vinyl squeegee to make sure it is stuck. If the material bunches it will jam your machine – ask me why I know!
  • Cut the leather with the rough (inside) side up. This will prevent the rollers from marring your leather.
  • Clean the mat frequently. Leather leaves behind little bits and pieces. I cleaned my mat between each cut to ensure that the leather could come into contact with the adhesive. I used water and a lint free tea towel.

Resources for the Wallet and the Bookmark

Want to make your own leather wallet or bookmark? Here’s what you’ll need:

  • Wallet: I followed these instructions and patterns from the team at Bison Made/Ezra Arthur. I used 2 square feet of this tanned leather and this thread. I first used a marker to have the Cricut Maker draw a mark for each hole, then cut the pieces using the rotary tool, and sewed them together.
  • Bookmark: Made from the scraps of the wallet. I used a shape in Design Space to make the rectangle and Cricut’s Leather Tassel Keychain – although I made it smaller and left off the trim work. I used Craft Perfect heat transfer vinyl for the wording on the bookmark, because it adheres to leather.

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3 Things I Learned about Cutting Leather with Cricut Maker - Explore - Air - by cuttingforbusiness.com

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Comments

  1. Cathy says

    August 28, 2017 at 7:52 pm

    How do you use HTV on leather without damaging the leather?

    Reply
    • Christine says

      August 28, 2017 at 9:06 pm

      Hello! You’d use a heat transfer product meant for leather. See here: https://cuttingforbusiness.com/2017/04/27/tutorial-craft-perfect-htv-leather/

      Reply
  2. Luisa Vervoorn says

    September 23, 2017 at 8:08 pm

    Which mat do you use?

    Reply
    • Christine says

      September 23, 2017 at 9:08 pm

      I used a regular green Cricut mat, although a strong grip mat (purple) or a fabric mat (pink) would work.

      Reply
      • Luisa says

        September 24, 2017 at 3:07 am

        thanks for getting back to me so quickly! I used a fabric mat yesterday and it bunched up my leather. I have ordered the green and purple mats so I will try again with that. I can’t wait!

        Reply
        • Christine says

          September 24, 2017 at 9:47 am

          Good luck!

          Reply
  3. Brenda says

    October 12, 2017 at 12:02 pm

    Help! How did you unjam the leather in your machine?

    Reply
    • Christine says

      October 12, 2017 at 12:37 pm

      Brenda, I very carefully cut away the leather from the blade using an Exacto knife and pressed the load mat button repeatedly to work the last piece out. Good luck!

      Reply
  4. Risa Bracamonte says

    November 17, 2017 at 7:32 pm

    have you tried the rotary tool with leather?

    Reply
    • Christine says

      November 19, 2017 at 9:34 am

      Yes, I used the rotary tool in all these leather projects.

      Reply
  5. Marwa says

    November 24, 2017 at 1:07 pm

    Hi Christine, Thank you for the review !
    do you know up to what leather thickness the blades will be able to cut? thanks !

    Reply
    • Christine says

      November 26, 2017 at 10:51 am

      Cricut states, “3/32″ of an inch, or 2.4mm for both the rotary and knife blades”. Hope that helps!

      Reply
      • Kerry Lee Haas says

        March 1, 2018 at 10:13 am

        2.4mm? That would be 6 oz thickness for leather. I am really surprised it can cut such thick leather. I was thinking it could do 1-3 oz at most. That’s awesome. Thanks for the info.

        Reply
        • Christine says

          March 2, 2018 at 11:39 am

          Happy to share! It cuts it with ease!

          Reply
  6. Maribeth True McPheters says

    December 13, 2017 at 6:40 am

    How do you finish the back side ( fuzzy side) of projects? Especially with earrings?.

    Reply
    • Christine says

      December 13, 2017 at 1:03 pm

      I don’t do anything on the bracelets. I know that many crafters are doubling up the earrings so that if they spin around, both sides look the same.

      Reply
  7. Jo says

    March 18, 2018 at 4:37 am

    This sounds like an awesome product. Does it cut out leathers from faux leather?

    Reply
    • Christine says

      March 19, 2018 at 2:03 pm

      Yes, the Cricut Maker can cut faux leather.

      Reply
  8. Alonda McCarty says

    April 9, 2018 at 7:05 pm

    Can you only use the Cricut leather sheets or use your own leather too?

    Reply
    • Christine says

      April 11, 2018 at 12:04 pm

      You can use whatever leather you want. I didn’t use a Cricut leather for this project – I used real leather.

      Reply
  9. Vickie says

    December 15, 2018 at 4:04 pm

    I tried cutting leather this morning by setting the machine to thin leather. It didn’t make a dint in cutting it with the fine blade. I see you are using the rotary blade. Do I need to use a different setting. I’m also putting the smooth side of the leather down on the mat. I see some are putting transfer tape down next to the mat. Is that necessary?

    Reply
    • Christine says

      January 8, 2019 at 11:07 am

      I’ve never used anything but the rotary blade to cut leather. I’ve never used transfer tape, but have used blue painter’s tape to tape the leather to an older mat that didn’t have a lot of adhesive left.

      Reply
  10. Jessica says

    May 6, 2020 at 4:14 pm

    Is there an svg file for the wallet pattern? I’d really love to do it but don’t know how to convert the blueprints they provided into something for my maker.

    Reply
    • Christine, Cutting for Business says

      August 31, 2020 at 12:44 pm

      I don’t have one, but you might be able to find one online.

      Reply

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