Laser Cut Fabric Twill Appliqués

First, open any of the three appliqué files you want to create. We'll show the dragon.cdr file for these instructions.

Choose two colors of sticky-back twill. We used a silver for the background color and a blue for the top color.

Remove the backing from the blue twill and stick it to the top of the silver.

Place the twill in the laser, securing the edges with tape.

From a location on the twill that will not be used, cut two practice rectangles to make sure that your settings are correct. First find settings that will cut through only the top layer of fabric, allowing you to peel off the blue fabric. Next, find the settings to cut through both layers of fabric.

Send the file to the laser and set your page size in the General properties tab. Next, click the Advanced tab and click the check box next to Color Mapping.

Click Edit Color and choose the black swatch (R:0, G:0, B:0). Set the speed and power to your test settings that went through only one layer of the fabric. Click the Add button.

Next, click Edit Color and choose the red swatch (R:255, G:0, B:0). Set the speed and power of your test settings that went through both layers of the fabric.

On a 35 watt Helix, we used black settings of 100% speed, 40% power. The red settings were 50% speed, 60% power.

When you remove the fabric from the laser, peel away the blue fabric wherever you want the silver to show through.

When you're done you'll have a one-of-a-kind appliqué!

Repeat these steps with the sunflower and saxophone files. Try different colors of twill and see what great combinations you can come up with!