Laser Cut Fabric Design

After seeing Jessica Hinel's Laser-Cut Wedding Dress and Vest, I wanted to try out the laser cutting design on fabric. So below are the results from my experiment.

Step 1: The Design

Here's the design I create for laser printing. I've also attached the eps file in case anyone wants to use it.

Step 2: Prepare the Fabric for Laser Cutting

Here's how I layout my fabric for printing. I used construction tape to taped down the fabric. This way the fabric will stay in place. You should also iron flat the fabric so that there will be no wrinkle when you actually start printing.

Step 3: Laser Cutting Video

Here's a video clip of my fabric being printed on the laser cutter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqA3mxuk93E

Comments

[lindascamp]

I bought a 2.5 watt DIY laser cutter. I would like to cut squares, triangles and rectangles for quilts out of cotton fabrics. Would you please help me with the basics?

what kind of surface does the laser cutter sit on?

What setting do you use for 1 layer of fabric? 2? more?

What program do you need to create a diagram of shapes to fit in the bed of the laser--what file extension?

Are there any free programs to draw my squares in and then transfer to benbox? Or is there a way to "draw" them in benbox?

Thanks for helping. Linda Camp

[vamsikrishnargg99]

hey can u suggest me where can i buy cheepers lasers please help me..

[CncD1]

Fabulous

[swmwfm]

Hi ! interesting idea,can you please tell me what fabrics is OK to laser cut ?

[Lemonsea]

Hi,

Any natural fabric should be fine, but you should get one that's thick enough so that it won't burn off from the laser.

Here are some list of materials that are safe for laser cutting:
http://atxhackerspace.org/wiki/Laser_Cutter_Materials
http://bedyna.vwh.net/fabrics-laser-cutter/

[davemenc]

I can't figure out what you did here. To what did you tape the fabric?

[Lemonsea]

I sew the fabric to the skirt.

- lemonsea

[craftyv]

Love the whole idea of laser cut fabric. A common method for supporting open spaces in fabric that is delicate is to put a fine net behind it. Either behind the whole fabric after the design is cut out, or in panels behind each cut/block of cut-outs. Hope this helps someone.

[scoochmaroo]

I've also been considering laser cutting for my wedding dress. I know Jessica's dress had troubles with the large areas that were cut out flopping in and out. Can you talk more about your results? And how you might use the motifs you've designed in the finished dress?

[Lemonsea]

I also encountered a few problems with printing on laser cutter. A few areas of my fabric got burned off from the printing. And when I washed the fabric, a few corners riped. However, I think these problems were attributed to the fabric material I used; I printed my design on a very thin 100% silk fabric. The floral pattern was also probably designed a bit too tightly together.

I'd originally designed this pattern for a skirt. However, I had to change my design because of the problems I mentioned. Below is the instructable I ultimately created.
https://www.instructables.com/id/Laser-Cutting-Cherry-Blossom-Shaped-Pattern-skirt/

If you want to laser cut your wedding dress, I think you really should because the design effect will be awesome. Just make sure that you use a thicker fabric material and design the pattern so it is not too tightly packed together.
I hope this helps.