Making Stencils with Cricut

Back in November I found a project I wanted to work on. I had showed the picture to my mom and we talked about how it could be done. It called for you to draw your letters and then cut them out and use them as a stencil. Well that wasn’t going to happen! I don’t have enough patience to design my own font then cut it out with an exacto knife. So my mom suggested a stencil and I said that all the ones I’d seen were not really what I wanted. So she asked if my Cricut could do it.

I had wondered the same thing but didn’t know what material to use for it and said so. She ran to her sewing room and brought back some thin plastic. It was used by quilters. (Not exactly sure why) So I went looking for it at Hobby Lobby in the sewing area and I found an 18”x24” sheet of this quilters plastic, and it was only $4. I was so excited cause this opened up a whole world of possibilities for me!

So I cut the plastic into 6”x12” pieces (that’s the size that I need to fit in the machine). Then picked out one of my fonts and cut it out. It worked beautifully! Here's a pic of the plastic cut to size.

So I’ve been making all kinds of stencils now. I’ve used them on canvas’s and on fabric, using the appropriate paint for each.

Ok, here’s a pic of the stenciling I’ve done on fabric. I was in a hurry on both so there is some leakage, but if I’d prepped better that wouldn’t have happened, but it’s not bad enough that I’d scrap the whole piece of fabric.

If you’re wondering what cartridges I used for the pillows; I used Cherry Limeade for Trey’s pillow, and Calligraphy for the DM pillow.
I'd love to hear of other things,besides die cuts, that you've used the Cricut (or other machine) for.