Best Cutting Mats For Dressmaking
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Cutting mats are probably one of the most useful tools when it comes to sewing and crafting. I love my cutting mat and honestly would end up damaging so many tables if I didn’t have it.
The best cutting mats for dressmaking are those which are larger than A3 as they need to be able to sit below the fabric and pattern pieces and enable you to cook continuously and smoothly without hitting the ledge of the mat.
In this article, I am going to break down the different qualities in which you should look for in a cutting mat and the best cutting mats for dressmaking on the market.
What You Should Be Looking For In A Cutting Mat For Dressmaking
If you plan to use a cutting mat and rotary cutter for dressmaking you might want to look at a few things first.
These things will help you determine which cutting mat you should buy, which size you require and if it is worth the cost.
Your Own Space
The very first thing you want to think about is your space you have to work with. Everyone has different places they work from dedicated sewing rooms to dining room tables and even living room floors.
No matter your space you wan to make sure that where ever you will be using your cutting mat you have the space to lay it down properly. Tables are always the most recommended of surfaces to place your cutting mat on.
If you find yourself if smaller space you might want to look at using a smaller cutting mat which is easier to store away when you aren’t using it and it fits within your space better.
Alternatively, if you have a table in which you can use continuously as a sewing table you might want to look at a larger cutting mat that can live on the table more permanently.
Size
After working out your space for your cutting mat you will need to look at which size you require. Dressmaking can be hard to fit onto a smaller mat such as A3 as the pieces can be much larger (unless you are sewing primarily children clothes).
Work out the largest mat you can fit in your space for dressmaking. Some larger mats may be more specialised or you can pick 2 mats and place them together to create the dedicated length and width you require.
Before buying make sure you know where it will be stored, how it will be stored and is it easy to get back out again?
Make sure you know it can’t be rolled up and stored away as this ruins the mat and won’t be flat for when you need it. It also can’t be stored in direct sunlight as this will cause it to warp and distort, making it curve and uneven to work on.
Quality
The final thing to think about is the quality in which you want to get. There are plenty of cutting mats on the market and not all of them are bad but you want to make sure that you get a good quality mat that will last over time.
Especially as you plan to use it for lots of cutting out and pinning garments together.
Some questions you might want to ask yourself is;
- Does it have a grid printed on?
- Does the grid come in inches or centimetres? Which one do you want?
- Is it self healing?
4 Best Cutting Mats For Dressmaking
Finding a cutting mat that is both good quality and a large size can be hard. That’s why I created this handy list so you can find a cutting mat that is both great quality and large enough to cut out clothing patterns on.
1. Rhino Cutting Mats
Rhino Cutting Mats are a company based in the UK that supply cutting mats to a number of different business and crafts people. They are the masters of cutting mats and have a wide range of different styles of mats which are perfect for a number of different crafts, including sewing.
As they are a well established company they offer premade and pre-sized cutting mats along with bespoke sizes.
The cutting mats are high quality and made to last years and years instead of a couple of months. They are easy to care for and only need a small amount of maintenance to keep in good condition and clean.
Find out more about Rhino Cutting Mats Here.
2. Friskars A1 & A2
Friskars are one of my favourite brands and I often look to them for new rotary cutters, scissors or crafting tools. While they don’t specialise in sewing along they make a number of different products which are both high quality and reasonable priced.
I have a number of Friskars products myself and so it is no wonder they have a cutting mat suitable for dressmaking.
You can find the cutting mat in A1 or A2 size, these are both suitable sizes for dressmaking. They cutting mat comes with 1cm by 1cm squares which are labelled in a number format.
The gridded guide makes this perfect for lining up edges, seams and even great if you like to dabble in patchwork. The most outstanding feature of the mat is that it comes in a grey colour instead of the common green.
3. Olfa 70″ x 23″ Cutting Mat
Olfa are another brand in which produce great quality cutting mats. You can find Olfa online, in stores or on platforms such as eBay and Amazon.
You can use a number of different materials with the Olfa cutting mat such as rotary cutters, crafts knives and scoring tools. They are ideal for multi use projects such as crafting, sewing and model building.
The surface of the cutting mat is a self-healing surface and is soft enough to protect the blade from damage but hard enough to prevent deep cuts.
They are made from a top quality material which helps the mat from splitting and cracking which creates a nice long lasting cutting mat.
While it is one of the smaller on the list you can find it useful by placing two together on your work surface to cover a larger surface area. Then you can simply remove one for smaller projects.
4. Ansio Self Healing Cutting Mat
The Ansio A1 cutting mat is a perfect budget friendly option, especially if you are unsure on how your sewing journey might go and whether a cutting mat is for you or not.
This allows you to buy a large cutting mat, try it out and not have to invest all your fabric money into tools instead.
The mat comes with double sided markings, this will enable you to use both sides of the mat effectively so you swap sides if you need to. One side has metric measurements while the other has imperial measurements.
The size of the cutting mat is 89cm x 59cm or 34 inches x 22.5 inches.