Thursday, February 15, 2018

Martelli Rotary Cutters

I mentioned a month or so ago that I'd gotten some new sewing tools I was going to show you, so here's one of them. A special friend had gifted me a new rotary cutter for Christmas. To be honest, I thought, "Gee, I already have two sets of rotary cutters in various sizes - I really don't need another one." Right. I didn't NEED another one. BUT... this is like being gifted the Cadillac of cutters! Here it is, below... the larger one in front.


It's a Martelli ERGO rotary cutter, as in 'ergonomic design'. It.Is.Awesome!! It is soooo comfortable to use, and cutting is effortless compared to using my older cutters!

Here you see it as I was cutting some fabric strips (which you may recognize as the straps from these bags) for size reference...


... and how it fits into my hand when in use - a very comfortable position.


You can read more details about the cutter and other Martelli products at their website here. There are also videos so you can learn more and see it in action. I happened to see a notice recently about everything on their website being 50% off for one day, which is why I now also have the smaller (28 mm) size cutter and some spare blades. ;) They can also be purchased from Amazon.

I was practicing with the smaller cutter one day, and it was so fun that I may have gotten carried away cutting out cord wraps. You may recognize the fabrics as some of Jess's earlier designs.


I ended up with quite a few.


It was great for using up scraps! They were rather fun to take photos of, too. :)


(Template for the cord wraps can be found here.)


Then for Valentine's Day, rather than give Courtney sweets, I gave her a new charging cord for her iPod, so I made another wrap for that.


I also thoroughly enjoyed using the larger cutter (45 mm) when I cut out the bags for her birthday. I used to hate cutting out sewing projects, but these cutters make it much more fun. I suppose the novelty will wear off someday, but for now I'll indulge and enjoy. The next project is already cut and waiting for the sewing machine!

10 comments:

Geneviève said...

What a thoughful friend you have. ;P

I'm tempted to get a mini cutter for myself too, it looks like it cut curves so nicely, even tiny things like cords wrappers.

You've made so many cute and colorful wrappers, now I'm itching to make a few more. I think I am pretty easily influenced, ha!

Was Courtney happy with her gift? :)

Grandma G said...

Thoughtful and very smart! ❤️

Yes, I think you'd have no regrets about getting the smaller cutter.

Thank you! Of course you should make more! They go so fast... especially the cutting part. Well, once you have the smaller cutter, that is. 😉

Courtney was very pleased with her gift. 👏

Kris Quilts said...

And here I am, using the same cutter I've had since before I started quilting in 2008. It might be time to testdrive a new cutter!

Grandma G said...

Testdrive, Kris? I don’t know where you can do that, unless you went to one of Martelli’s shows. Although you’re welcome to try mine out any time you’re down here. My advice is to just buy one - you’ll love it! They also make a 60 mm one, which would be nice for quilters.

chrisknits said...

What an awesome rotary cutter. Must look into them. Cute cord wraps!

Grandma G said...

Thank you, Chris! Yes, the cutter is definitely worth looking into. And buying. 😉

Anonymous said...

I love your little cord wraps. The snaps you use...where do you get them and how are they applied? Thanks, KarenA

Grandma G said...

Thank you, KarenA! They are KAMsnaps, and they can be purchased at kamsnaps.com or on Amazon. They require a special pliers or a bigger setter machine. I just have the pliers, which works great. I wrote a post about them, which you can find if you put KAMsnaps in the search box at the top of my blog page. They’re very fun, and I love using them. Very easy to install, too.

Karen said...

what size rotary blade does it use?

Grandma G said...

Karen, the smaller one is a 28mm and the larger one is 45mm. They also make a 60mm one.