9 easy steps make the Brother ScanNCut SDX225 sew easy to use!

Yesterday I showed you some fabric postcards I made using heart shapes cut using the Brother ScanNCut SDX225 electronic cutting machine.

Finished fabric postcards

I’ll be using heart shapes this week, (just in time for Valentine’s Day!) but there are hundreds of other designs to choose from, already in the ScanNCut machine. From the opening screen, select Pattern and the entire menu opens up for you. Select any of the icons to access the designs. The heart shapes are found in the one that has the Eiffel tower and tree symbols.

Opening screen on the Brother ScanNCut DX225

All the designs can be made larger or smaller just by touching the + or – keys on the Edit screen. You can also enlarge by a percentage amount by touching the % key.

Touch the + or – keys to resize the image.

• Select the design you want, press Set and it will appear on the screen.
• For the following steps, I suggest you cut some test pieces first before cutting your final designs. Different fabrics and fusible web products will handle differently, and you need to find what works best for you.
• Carefully remove the paper backing sheet from the fusible web. Make sure the fusible web stays on the fabric! Save the backing sheet for later.
• Place the fusible backed fabric on the standard cutting mat. Depending on the fusible web you use, you might like to use this Brother Brayer to make sure the fabric is firmly attached to the mat. If you find your fabric is not sticking to the cutting mat as well as you’d like, you can tape it to the cutting mat using green painter’s tape.

Use the brayer to make sure the fabric is firmly attached to the cutting mat.

• Load the mat into the ScanNCut DX225.

You can see I used some odd-shaped scraps for my hearts, and I wanted to make sure the hearts fit properly on the fabric.

Odd-shaped scraps on standard tack cutting mat

I used the Scan Fabric key and my fabric then showed on up the screen.

Easily arrange hearts on the fabric after fabric has been scanned

• Use the stylus or your finger to move the shapes around on the screen to fit the fabric exactly. You’ll notice there’s an Edit key on this screen. By pressing this key, you can resize the heart shapes or rotate them to fit the fabric better. If you find you have some extra fabric available, you can select a heart shape that’s already on the screen, duplicate it and move it to an empty space on the fabric.
• When you have everything where you want it, touch OK. Then select Cut and Start. Now you can watch the Brother ScanNCut cut your heart shapes perfectly!
• Unload the mat. Carefully remove the background fabric first and then the heart shapes. Make sure the fusible web is adhering to the fabric and not the cutting mat!
• Use a spatula to remove the shapes without distorting them. A small spatula comes with the ScanNCut DX225. The large spatula, shown in the picture, is an optional accessory.

Carefully remove fusible shapes using the spatula.

This is part 2 of 5 in this series

Go back to part 1: Postcards made easy with the Brother ScanNCut SDX225

Go to part 3: Let’s make Valentine fabric postcards!

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