Use the Silhouette Portrait For Fabric Crafts and Quilting
The Silhouette Portrait and Silhouette Cameo are two slick little die cut machines that can be used for a variety of unique fabric projects in addition to scrapbooking and other crafts.
I can see a huge number of possibilities for using these machines with fabric crafts, whether you are sewing for fun or you are in business. You can make wonderful detailed appliques and iron-ons that will put your finished products a few steps ahead of the crowd!
Both die cut machines have some really great features and a great following of users; however there are some basic differences between the two.
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If you’re not a scrap-booker, you may be wondering what these machines can do for people who sew. I’ll be discussing below how they can be used for sewing and quilting, which are my main interests.
Using the Silhouettes with Fabric
Both the Silhouette Portrait and the Cameo can be used with fabric, providing that you purchase a few accessories specifically for cutting fabrics. Here are a couple of them and ideas on how to use them.
- Sewable Fabric Interfacing – can be attached to fabric (temporary basting) and then appliqued to your project. Picture pillows, wall hangings, quilts, baby quilts, and even pot holders with your family’s silhouettes or your dog’s silhouette on them. Make a friendship quilt with your friends’ portraits. Consider all the personal gifts that you can give…
- Heat Transfer Material – You can print on this material (with your printer), cut it out, and then iron it onto fabrics. Consider using it on shirts, pants, hats, and all the gifts and items mentioned above. You may have purchased heat transfer designs and used them on fabrics before. This is your opportunity to design your own!
more versatile than the Silhouette Portrait.
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What Kind of Designs Can You Use with the Silhouette Portrait?
So just how creative can you get with this die cut machine? Pretty creative, as you have a number of options for getting your images:
- Built in images – the machine come with 50+ images right in the machine.
- Purchase in the online store – The Silhouette company has individual images that you can purchase in their store for 99 cents each, or you can subscribe to their images and get them for as little as 50 cents each. Once you purchase, the image is yours to use, forever. The Silhouette cutter does not use cartridges.
- Use images that you download from the internet – The machine attaches your computer with a USB. Any image that is a .png, .svg. or .jpg will work with the Silhouette. Keep in mind that, for applique work, you need to keep your images fairly simple.
- Design your own – If you are creative and have fun with design, why not design your own? This approach works with the Silhouette Portrait as well, and you can have truly personal designs for your projects.
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The Silhouette Portrait vs. the Cameo
Both die cut machines have some really great features and a great following of users; however there are some basic differences between the two.
Both are able to cut designs that are up to 10 feet long. The Cameo can cut a 12” width, while the Silhouette Portrait is limited to 8”.
The Silhouette Portrait is lighter weight, weighing only 3.5 pounds, and the Silhouette Cameo is a bit heavier, weighing 6.5 pounds.
Lastly, the Cameo has an LCD screen, but the Silhouette Portrait only has 5 buttons and no screen.
The Portrait, while a lighter duty model, also has a lighter price tag. The Cameo is more popular, but, depending on your needs, I think you will be well satisfied with either of these die cutter machines–the Silhouette Portrait or the Silhouette Cameo.
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