Have you been thinking about upgrading your Cricut Explore Air 2 to a Cricut Maker?  Here is one of the many reasons why you should:

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.  This post also contains affiliate links for your convenience.  If you decide to make a purchase, I will make a commission at no additional cost to you.  See my full disclosure policy to learn more. 

I've been a Cricut addict for the last 4 years.  When I got my Cricut Explore in 2014 I was in crafting heaven.  I was already really into scrapbooking, and my paper collection has grown the point of where I can probably open my own store.  I was perfectly content paper crafting my days away with my Cricut Explore.  Then I got to be one of the teaching assistants at some of the live Cricut events when the Cricut Maker was first coming out.  I couldn't believe all of the projects that were possible with the Cricut Maker.  It reminded my of traveling to Oz where you go from a world of black and white to a world of vibrant color.

Back when I was in college, I majored in Clothing, Textiles, and Fashion Merchandising.  I learned a lot about fabric and even how to really sew.  Until I got my Cricut Maker, my sewing machine hadn't seen the light of day in a few years.  The frustrating part about sewing to me is not the actual sewing - it's cutting out the fabric. Although I've certainly improved, I still not good at cutting out patterns.  And that's one of the many, many, many reason why I'm so happy with the Cricut Maker.

Don't get me wrong - The Circut Explore Air 2 and the other Explore machines are still amazing at what they can do.  But they can't cut fabric..... or tissue or crepe paper.  But the Cricut Maker can thanks to the rotary blade tool.

The Cricut Maker comes with the rotary blade tool that can cut fabric! #ad #Cricut #CricutMade

To show off the Cricut Maker, I'm going to walk you through how to make this "wanderlust" pillow.

Wanderlust Pillow Cover Materials List

This pillow is suuuuuper easy to make with the use of perfectly symmetrical rectangles.  And I love that there is no zipper.  The back two pieces of fabric overlap each other to insert the pillow form.

Open the project in the Design Space (located in the materials list above) to get started.  When you are cutting out your fabric, make sure to select the correct material setting each time you load your mat.  For my pillow I used broadcloth, fleece, and velveteen that I attached Wonder Under fusible web to so that my design will stay in place when I sew it.   Check out that perfectly cut circle!  There's no way I could do that with a pair of scissors.

Once all of the fabric is cut out, it's time to cut out the foil iron-on.  Switch over to the fine point blade and make sure to turn the mirror setting on in the mat preview.  Place the iron-on onto the mat with the shiny side down.  Once it's cut, weed out the design.

My mid-thirties decided not to joke around, so I have a little bit of a hard time seeing the details on the iron-on material.  I find it extremely helpful to use the Cricut BrightPad when I'm weeding a design and the weeding tools are another major convenience.

Isn't this globe pattern beautiful?  But, set it aside for now.

Remember the velveteen I mentioned earlier?  That's what I used to make the base of the globe.  Since it has the Wonder Under fusible web on the underside, I used the EasyPress 2 to iron it in place on the front of the pillow.  Then, so the globe shape won't fray over time, I used a zigzag stitch the sew around the edge.   Once that was done, I placed the globe and "wanderlust" iron-on cut outs onto the pillow and used the recommended settings for the EasyPress 2 to seal them in place.

Cricut recommends a cold peel for this material, so I waited until the front of my pillow was completely cool before removing the protective film.

I absolutely love how the design turned out.

Thinking about upgrading your Explore Air 2 to a Cricut Maker? Here's why you should! #ad #Cricut #CricutMade

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Now to sew the rest of the pillow cover,  I folded one of the short ends of each of pieces of the back fabric over twice to make a nice clean seam and sewed them in place.  Then I placed the front of the pillow case right side up and pinned the the two pieces of the back fabric so that they overlapped with each other and faced right side down.  I sewed around the entire edge of the pillow cover and once I was done, clipped the four corner pieces.  Finally I turned my pillow right side out and it was ready for the pillow form.

I love how the pillow cover turned out.

Although I still get plenty of use out of my original Explore machine, I'm so happy that I got to upgrade to a Cricut Maker.

I have an awesome Cricut giveaway coming up and another exciting Cricut related surprise soon too.  Sign up for my newsletter so you don't miss either!

Cutting fabric and other delicate materials with the rotary blade is only one of the fabulous things that the Cricut Maker can do.  You definitely won't be disappointed if you upgrade to the Cricut Maker.

That's it for this post.  Until next time!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

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