Today's tutorial is helpful for those of us, me definitely included, who have trouble lining things up perfectly. By creating an intentional spacing gap between different elements, you give yourself some wiggle room. This is helpful for any material, … [Read more...]
How’d They Do That? Graduated Horizontal Spaces: Take #2
Recently, I shared with you how to alter a design, usually a word, so that there were empty rectangular spaces across it in increasing widths. If you didn't see that tutorial, you can find it here. Today, I want to show you how to create a knockout … [Read more...]
How to clean a heat press
I freely admit that although I'm a very organized person, I'm not necessarily a neat one. As my creative juices get going I sometimes rush through projects to get to the end result. Or I take so long in the designing portion (which I find more fun), … [Read more...]
Cut Doctor: Lesson 24 — Dealing with difficulties after the cut
We've made it to the end of our series. Your cuts should be all healed now! But today's visit is a follow up appointment where we go over things like post-operative complications. Specifically, we're going to talk about problems with weeding and … [Read more...]
Hack for aligning HTV when layering
I made a shirt last weekend to cheer on my Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Final Four of the NCAA Men's Basketball Championships. They made it to the final game -- HURRAH! They didn't win, but it was a great game that went to overtime. Wreck 'Em Tech! … [Read more...]
Cut Doctor: Lesson 23 — Bad cuts part 2
Have you ever send a cut job to your machine, watched it work and away, then removed the material and realized it didn't cut the material at all or cut it all the way through? Yes, I see every hand going up! We've all had this happen at one time or … [Read more...]
How to use a roll feeder
I'm currently working on a HUGE vinyl project for my church. We're creating a forest scene with animals on a wall 45 feet long and 10 feet high. This is the perfect time to use a roll feeder, since the pieces are really large. Note: This post may … [Read more...]
Cut Doctor: Lesson 18 — When the machine starts cutting in the wrong place
The Cut Doctor is in! We're back for our second lesson in troubleshooting cuts on your Silhouette machine. This time we're looking at symptoms at the onset of a cutting disease. Let's look at some reasons your machine may start cutting in the wrong … [Read more...]
Too much of a good thing: the effects of overheating HTV
Heat transfer vinyl is a fantastic material. With it, you can customize virtually any fabric surface (and even more). It’s one of the materials that lots of folks purchase a Silhouette machine to cut. But there are some myths floating around about … [Read more...]
Baby shower table centerpieces
I shared with you recently how I created my own custom plaid patterns to match some flannel fabric I had purchased. I used the fabric to create table runners for a baby shower, which I turned into a baby quilt later. You may recall that the theme of … [Read more...]
10 Fun Stocking Stuffers to make with your Silhouette
Is your Christmas shopping done? For once, I got a big chunk of mine done early. But I love to give homemade gifts too, especially as stocking stuffers. Let’s face it – custom is always a good idea! And if it’s also inexpensive, that’s even … [Read more...]
Cut Doctor: Lesson 9 — Line Segment Overcut
You know that CPR can literally save a life. Penicillin and other antibiotics revolutionized medicine and saved countless thousands of lives in the past century. In today’s appointment with the Cut Doctor, you are going to learn about Line Segment … [Read more...]
Frugal Friday: Using up scraps of textile foil
I recently shared a Frugal Friday technique for using foil scraps or "damaged" pieces of textile foil. Today, I'm going to share another simple way to use scraps. It's a tip that's pretty logical, but something you may not have thought about. Often … [Read more...]
Frugal Friday: Distressed Foil Technique with a time-saving tip
I've just returned from teaching at the All Things Silhouette Conference. One of the ladies asked in the Facebook group for the conference for us to share 1 thing we learned. Believe it or not, the top thing I learned was from a vendor. He showed us … [Read more...]
Frugal Friday: Making the most of expensive HTV and vinyl material
As I told you in my first Frugal Friday tip, I hate to throw away scraps of expensive or beautiful material. I like to try to find ways to reuse the bits and pieces whenever I can. That’s certainly the case with any patterned adhesive vinyl or HTV. … [Read more...]