Introducing the all-new Cricut Maker.

I recently attended an event in Salt Lake City with Cricut and was shocked when I ‘met’ the newest member of the Cricut family – the Cricut Maker (check out the video from the event). The Cricut Maker is a digital cutting machine that can cut 100s of materials with its diverse tools. It uses the fine point and deep point blades as welll as a pen and scoring stylus from the Explore series of machines. It also has an all new rotary blade and knife blade that can rotate in all directions with the new adaptive tool system (see the gears at the top of the blade housing).

Adaptive Tool System

The Cricut Explore has a new advanced system called the Adaptive Tool System that controls the direction and pressure of the blade. This is perfect for matching the cut to the chosen material. If cutting with an X-acto knife you would want the first cut to be lighter to score the material. The next cuts to have more pressure and the last cut to be light for a clean cut on the finished edges. This tool system is programmed to do exactly that – with 10X more cutting power.

– What materials can the Cricut Explore cut? See them all here –

The Rotary Blade

The Cricut Maker is the best tool for anyone learning to sew because it cuts out and marks the patterns (with a washable ink pen) which makes it easy to see and follow the instructions. Sewing projects will look cleaner because of the precise cuts that line up perfectly.

I personally love to sew, but feel like I can’t get into detailed projects because I don’t have the space or setup for a table to cut fabric on. I often wait until I am visiting my Grandma’s house to do projects because she has a huge craft room with a large table to store all her fabrics and a large work surface to layout projects, cut out patterns, pin the patterns to the fabric, and then cut the fabric. This is the worst part of the process for me and I want to get to the sewing part as soon as possible. When making a quilt I am willing to spend more to buy it in a kit so that the cutting is done for me, but this isn’t an option with projects I want to customize or smaller piece projects.

The rotary blade is included with the machine and should be used with the pink fabric cutting mat.

The Knife Blade

Like an X-Acto blade, the extra-deep knife blade cuts through materials up ti 3/32″ thick – like balsa wood, matboard, and heavy leather. The knife blade is expected to be released by the end of 2017 and will be sold separately.

Sewing Projects In Design Space

Cricut has teamed up with Riley Blake Fabrics and Simplicty patterns to provide fabricsin the Cricut materials shop and quilt and sewing patterns in design space. There are also over 50 free patterns in design space designed just for the Cricut Maker. The machine can mark the seam allowances, notations, and cut out the pieces all in one step. Set up your project, hit GO and grab yourself a treat while the machine does its work.

The Little Details

Like all things, its the details that make all the difference. The Cricut Maker has so many thoughtful designs to make projects that much easier. The storage container on the machine has a rubber bottom that won’t get damaged by the sharp tips of the tools. The new blades are color coded to keep track of which one is which. There is a ledge to hold a tablet or smart phone as well as a USB port that will charge your device. The tool storage is deeper to hold more tools, and a magnetic strip holds extra blades in place.

Included with the Cricut Maker:
•Cricut Maker machine
•Rotary Blade + Drive Housing
•Premium Fine Point Blade + Housing
•Fine Point Pen
•FabricGrip Mat 12″x12″
•LightGrip Mat 12″x12″
•Welcome book
•USB cable
•Power adapter
•Cricut Access free trial membership
•50 free ready=to-make projects, including 25 sewing patterns
•Materials for your first project

What you need:
•Compatible computer or mobile device
•Broadband Internet connection

What do you think about the Cricut Maker? Will it change the way you craft, sew, or quilt?

The machine is available on Cricut and Amazon as well as in craft stores such as Michaels, Joann, Hobby Lobby, and will be available with a bundle October 3rd on HSN.