How to Cut Burlap with Your Cricut

You hit "go" on your Cricut, walk back to find a crumpled, half-shredded mess of burlap stuck to your mat, and wonder what on earth just happened.

Yes, your Cricut can cut burlap — but only if you stabilize it first. Skip that one step and the blade will drag the weave apart instead of slicing through it. Prep it right and you'll get surprisingly clean, crisp edges on a notoriously tricky fabric.

Why Burlap Needs Special Prep

Burlap is a loosely woven fabric. That open weave is exactly what gives it that rustic charm, but it's also why it falls apart the moment a blade touches it without support. The threads shift, snag, and pull instead of cutting cleanly.

Unlike felt or faux leather, burlap has almost no stability on its own. The Cricut blade catches individual threads and drags them sideways. What you end up with looks torn, not cut. No amount of tweaking your pressure settings will fix an unstabilized piece of burlap.

The good news is the fix is simple. One layer of iron-on stabilizer changes everything. It fuses the threads together so the blade glides through like it's cutting paper. That's the whole secret.

Stabilizing Burlap Before Cutting

This is the most important step in the whole process, so do not skip it. You need a lightweight woven fusible interfacing or an iron-on stabilizer, sometimes called cut-away or tear-away stabilizer. Lightweight is the keyword here. Heavy stabilizer makes burlap stiff and difficult to cut.

What You'll Need

• Fusible interfacing: Pellon 911FF or similar lightweight woven fusible
• Iron: Set to medium heat, no steam
• Pressing cloth: Optional but protects your iron from burlap debris
• Cricut pink FabricGrip mat: Strong grip holds stabilized burlap without it sliding

How to Apply It

Cut your stabilizer slightly larger than your burlap piece. Place the burlap rough-side up on your ironing board, lay the stabilizer glue-side down on top, and press with a dry iron for about 10–15 seconds per section. Let it cool completely before you touch it.

Once it's fused, the burlap should feel noticeably stiffer and the weave should look locked in place. If you can still shift the threads with your fingernail, press it again. A poorly bonded piece will still shift on the mat and cause tears.

Place your stabilized burlap glue-side down on the pink FabricGrip mat and press it firmly with a brayer or your hand. The Cricut mat types guide covers why the pink mat is the right call for fabric — the extra grip keeps everything in place through the whole cut.

Machine and Blade Recommendations

Not every Cricut handles burlap equally. Here's the honest breakdown.

Cricut Maker

The Maker is the best machine for cutting burlap, full stop. Use the Rotary Blade, which is designed specifically for fabric. It rolls through fibers instead of dragging, which means far less fraying and much cleaner edges. The Maker's adaptive tool system gives it the cutting force to handle thicker, stabilized burlap confidently.

Cricut Explore Series

The Explore Air 2 and Explore 3 can cut thinner burlap with the Deep-Point Blade installed. It won't be quite as clean as the Rotary Blade on the Maker, but for lightweight burlap banners and simple shapes, it works. Expect to do a bit more edge finishing afterward.

You can read more about each blade option in the Cricut blade types guide — it's a helpful reference when you're deciding what's already in your machine.

Cricut Joy

Skip the Joy for burlap. It doesn't have the cutting depth or the compatible blades to handle woven fabric, even stabilized. Save the Joy for paper and vinyl.

Settings for Burlap in Design Space

Design Space has a built-in burlap material setting, and it's a solid starting point. Search "burlap" in the material search bar and select it. If you're using the Rotary Blade on the Maker, it'll auto-populate the right pressure.

If your burlap is on the thicker side or your stabilizer added significant body, bump up the pressure by one notch and do a test cut on a small scrap first. Always do a test cut. A 1-inch square takes 30 seconds and can save an entire sheet of burlap.

For the Explore with a Deep-Point Blade, try the "Burlap" setting first. If the blade is dragging rather than cutting, increase pressure slightly and slow the cut speed in the advanced settings. One pass is usually enough with proper stabilization.

Burlap Project Ideas

Once you've nailed the prep, burlap opens up a whole category of rustic, farmhouse-style projects. Here are some of the most popular ones to try.

• Burlap banners: Cut pennant shapes and iron on vinyl letters for a birthday or seasonal banner that looks hand-made in the best way.
• Gift bag bows: Cut strip shapes, layer them, and hot glue the center for bows that look way fancier than store-bought ribbon.
• Wreath backgrounds: Cut circles or ovals to sit behind a floral wreath. The texture adds depth without competing with the flowers.
• Table runners: Cut long strips with decorative scalloped or pointed edges. Pair with heat transfer vinyl for a monogram or seasonal phrase.
• Rustic signs: Cut burlap to fit a frame or wood board, then layer iron-on vinyl on top for a farmhouse-style quote sign.

Burlap pairs especially well with heat transfer vinyl because the texture grips the vinyl once pressed. It's a different process than cutting canvas, but if you've ever wondered whether Cricut can cut canvas, the stabilizer prep is very similar.

Finishing Edges to Prevent Fraying

Even perfectly cut burlap will start fraying if you leave the edges bare. Burlap frays fast, sometimes within hours of cutting if the piece is handled.

The easiest fix is a thin line of Fray Check or fabric glue along every cut edge. Apply it with the bottle tip, let it dry for about 5 minutes, and the threads lock in place. It dries clear and flexible, so it doesn't stiffen the edge visibly.

For projects where the edge will show, like a table runner, you can fold and hot glue a small hem on the underside. It takes an extra few minutes but gives a much cleaner finish. Alternatively, cut the burlap about 0.5 inches larger than your final shape, apply Fray Check, and trim to size once dry.

If you're building up a burlap and vinyl project library, Cuttabl is a handy tool for organizing your Cricut SVG files, especially when you've got a mix of fabric and vinyl projects on the go.