US Art Supply 18″x24″ Professional Self-Healing Cutting Mat

Rotary cutting is the act of cutting cloth for crafts or quilting using a tool with a bladed edge. A rotary cutter is a wheeled apparatus that will cut easily through most crafting fabrics. It allows for a very straight cut without the hassle of having to snip at it multiple times.

A rotary cutting mat is something you place below the fabric while cutting. The mat acts similarly to a cutting board in a kitchen. Its primary function is to prevent you from cutting into the table or counter that you are working over. Rotary cutting mats come in various sizes, material compositions and colors. Imagine working in the kitchen with a cutting board as it slides around on the counter while you’re wielding a sharp knife. This is not the ideal scenario you want when the mat is supposed to be there for you where you need it to be. The same goes for rotary cutting mats.

A non-slip bottom surface can make the mat stay firmly in place on your table as you cut over the top of it with confidence, knowing it won’t move. A mat like the Calibre Art Rotating Self-Healing Cutting Mat lets you focus on the more important parts of your art, such as getting your cuts perfectly straight and to the correct length.

Most rotary cutting mats have grids and lines all over the place that let you have references for some of the most common cuts that are performed in crafting and quilting. These graduated marks can be in metric units or standard, and they make using a rotary cutting mat a lot easier than if you were measuring out every cut with a measuring tape. Some products, like Zerro Self-Healing Cutting Double Sided Rotary Mat, are even reversible, so you can flip the mat to whichever side is the most useful for the cuts of fabric you are making. This reversibility allows each face to be less cluttered with markings, as there can be quite a lot of measurements packed into a fairly small space otherwise. Don’t forget to take into account the size of your project — the large size of the US Art Supply 18×24″ Professional Self-Healing Cutting Mat can accommodate bigger projects than other mats.

The ability to self-heal, as the industry terminology goes, is a great feature in rotary cutting mats. As you will be cutting over this mat hundreds or thousands of times, you need to have confidence in the fact that it will hold up to that level of use without becoming sliced up to the point where the surface is no longer workable. A good example is the Arteza Self-Healing Rotary Cutting Mat, which is made of a three-layer construction that almost magically heals itself when you use it, keeping the finish smooth and clean.

As you finish making one cut, you often will find yourself turning the material around to cut into the next logical direction, or perhaps you will rotate your body around the cutting mat so that you can keep the material still. These movements can become arduous and inefficient if you’re doing a high quantity of cutting. Look at the innovation of a rotary cutting board that sits on a rotating base, like the Skyhawk Self-Healing 14×14 Rotating Cutting Mat. This product will swivel for you, allowing you to make quick work of cuts that go in varying directions. You won’t have to get up and walk around your table as often, and the fabric can remain in place, so you don’t have to line it back up with the markings on the cutting mat.

• The best tip for buying a rotary cutting mat is to understand how you will personally be using it. If you intend to work on small pieces of fabric or paper in a dedicated space, the slip-resistant mats will be helpful as they are not going anywhere as you work.
• If you have a large space or work with larger pieces of fabric and can see yourself getting good value out of the rotating cutting mat, then that might be a direction you would want to lean in when making this purchase.
• It’s also worth considering what types of measurements and markings will be the most useful for you. There can be an overwhelming amount of lines built-in to some of these rotary cutting mats, which is helpful but also busy. If you can narrow down how you plan to use this mat, it will help identify the right product for you.