About two years ago, I purchased the original version of Brother’s ScanNCut. I have to say, it has been a real “love/hate” relationship! Most of all, though, I love it!
I first got the idea that this electronic cutter would be great for cutting out doll clothes from someone else. A friend asked me if I had ever used one of these cutters to cut out doll clothes. I hadn’t ever considered the possibility. The more I thought about it, though, the more I thought that it would be great for me! I’m 64 years old, and my eyesight isn’t what it used to be—especially when cutting out and marking up tiny doll clothes pattern pieces!
With over 22 years’ experience working in Information Technology, researching ways to use an electronic cutter was a natural for me. I researched various machines, but settled on the Brother ScanNCut because of the scanner. The features I looked for were:
- Ability to cut fabrics in smaller pieces, aligned to the grainline of the fabric
- Ability to draw on fabric with erasable pens for pattern markings
- Ability to cut pieces larger than 12 inches long
- Ability to scan fabric, then plan placement of cut pieces, on the scanning mat
- Ability to scan paper pattern pieces and cut them out exactly on the outlines
Most electronic cutters will work to do doll clothes patterns, but I wanted to be able to cut out shoe pieces or other pattern pieces that might only need a square of fabric or vinyl. Being able to scan the mat with vinyl already attached, for example, helps me place pattern pieces exactly.
There is quite a learning curve to using these cutters. It took several attempts at cutting before I was comfortable with the process. I’m sure I ruined more than my fair share of fabrics, and have even accidentally torn the mat itself when trying to clean it up.
So this section on Innovations In Dollwear is all about learning to use the cutter itself—what to do, what to avoid, products I love, and what doesn’t work.
Innovations In Dollwear 