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2 specialized cutters to create beautiful chenille fabric

2 specialized cutters to create beautiful chenille fabric

by Michael Smith

Happy Thursday, everyone! Today is Day 4 of my spotlight on rotary cutters. Yesterday I shared some tips of using the smaller rotary cutters to quickly and easily cut garment patterns and I highlighted the Quick-Change system in many rotary cutters which makes replacing the blade super-easy.

Today I will share with you a super-easy and super-fun technique of making your own unique textured fabric to use for garments, tote bags, wall hangings, quilts, home dec, etc. The list is endless! Though it’s not particularly new, perhaps you’re new to the sewing/ quilting/ craft world, or perhaps, like me, you’ve been around a while, but haven’t yet tried this technique. Now that I’ve tried it, I’m hooked!

Create your own unique textured fabric – a terrific stash buster!

It’s also a great technique to use up a lot of scraps and those fabrics from your stash which just lay there because you don’t know what to do with them. Does that sound familiar? If ever you’ve looked at your fabric and asked, “What was I thinking?” then this technique is for YOU!

The right tools make all the difference!

The secret of this technique is using a cutter specifically designed to create the faux chenille fabric.

Olfa Chenille Cutter easily fits in the palm of your hand.

Clover Slash Cutter

The blade in each of these cutters does not move, so technically they’re not rotary cutters as the blade is stationary. You push each along to cut the fabric, and each fits comfortably in the hand. Though there are a few different brands on the market, I stuck with my two favorite tried-and-true brands, Olfa and Clover, both of which are widely available in fabric and quilt shops everywhere. Both the Olfa Chenille Cutter and Clover Slash Cutter quickly, easily and safely produce this very fast and fun technique without any guesswork. There are full detailed instructions, complete with pictures, included with each cutter.

Detailed instructions are included with each cutter. This page is from the Clover Slash Cutter.

Quick and easy steps

The technique is quite simple; sew parallel rows of stitching through multi-layers of fabric, then use the cutter to slice through all layers except the bottom layer of fabric.

Stitch parallel lines through all layers of fabric in any direction, spacing, width, shape you desire

It’s recommended to cut the bottom layer of fabric a little larger so it’s easier to insert the cutter into the stitched channel without fear of cutting through the bottom layer. You certainly don’t want that! However, sometimes you don’t have a big enough piece of fabric, or, perhaps you’re like me and don’t always read all the directions and your fabric layers are all the same size. Don’t worry! The guards on the bottom of the cutters are rounded and easy to insert into the channels, and I especially love that the Clover Slash Cutter has a long guard to use for straight line cutting, which makes it super-easy to slide into the correct layer of the channel.

Clover Slash Cutter with extra long guide for straight line cutting makes it easy to start the cutter in the stitched channel.

Olfa Chenille Cutter easily slices through up to 8 layers of fabric.

An old, clean toothbrush rubbed over the cut fabric will help make the fabric bloom before you toss it into the washing machine, which will further increase the blooming effect.

An old, clean toothbrush rubbed over the cut edges of the fabric will help make it “bloom”.

You have permission to play

Don’t worry if your stitching isn’t perfectly straight. This is a very forgiving technique! In fact, it’s fun to play around and experiment with the width of stitching, how close or far apart they are, the direction of the channels, etc. – all of which will produce different effects. You’re the designer as you’re creating your own original fabric to use however you wish. Sew many possibilities!

The Clover Slash Cutter includes a shorter guard which attaches to the bottom of the cutter after the longer guard is removed. This is ideal for cutting circular, wavy or angular lines other than straight.

Clover Slash Cutter has two guards included: one for straight-line cutting and one for circular, wavy or angled lines

You can also experiment with how many layers of fabric, fabric placement, and types of fabric – for example denim, quilting cotton, flannel. In the photo below you’ll see I only added squares of denim to the top and bottom corners of my fabric sandwich. I hadn’t yet put it in the dryer so the darker denim shadows quite prominently through the lighter yellow fabric on top, which is an effect you may or may not want. It’s up to you.

Experiment with different fabric types, layers, and positions to produce different effects.

Putting the fabric in the dryer will further increase the “blooming” chenille effect, but beware! This technique will produce a lot of lint so be sure to clean the trap and vent before and after putting the fabric in the dryer.

It’s such a fun technique as there are no rules – other than don’t slice through the bottom foundation layer of fabric, that is! Lol! Other than that, have fun! 

Please join me tomorrow for the last installment of my look at rotary cutters. I’ll share with you more fun products to make cutting quicker and easier with more accurate results!

Now, gather up those tired, old, ugly fabrics from your stash and stitch and slash away!

This is part 4 of 5 in this series.
Go back to part 3: There are more rotary cutter options than just the 45mm!

Go to part 5: Cutting perfect circles with Olfa and TrueCut Circle Cutters

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3 comments

mousecat September 18, 2019 - 2:01 pm

So that’s how its done!! Thanks for showing us!

Reply
Laura Sloan September 14, 2019 - 6:56 am

That is very cool. I recently saw a quilt like this and wondered how they got that chenille effect

Reply
Sandy Allen September 12, 2019 - 9:08 pm

Thanks for the review! I have the slash cutter but haven’t used it yet. Now I want to get started on a new project so I can use it!

Reply

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