I absolutely love personalising clothes, accessories and toys for my children. They get such a kick out of seeing something being made that is especially for them. And once you get started there are endless items that can be embellished to make gifts, celebrations, school supplies and even everyday items to make them a lot more fun. Think water bottles, backpacks, hats, T-shirts and even shoes can all be given a fun makeover. Don’t get me started on making gifts for their friends. The possibilities are endless!
LokLik Cutting Machine
One of the easiest, fastest and most professional ways to do all of this is with a cutting machine. Taking images or lettering and cutting them onto vinyl or sticker paper to either heat press or adhere onto your materials. LokLik sent me their cutting machine to test out so I decided to revitalise an old hand me down T-shirt to make it feel brand new for my daughter.
Free Library of Images
To get her input to we spent way too long searching through all the free images on the LokLik workshop. There’s a fantastic collection of free images to choose from and you can even upload your own SVG files to cut your own designs as well. This is all for free with no subscription needed to use the app or download images from the workshop library. The search function is a little hit and miss, but it didn’t take us long to find plenty of images we liked!
We ended up settling on this very simple rabbit design, although I’m pretty sure she’s going to make me go through all of our other favourites and make an entire collection of pieces! I also saw quite a few images I’d like to try out for myself and my son has picked out plenty too. I can see me using this machine a lot in my future!
Perfect for Crafters
LokLik is available from Very. It’s very reasonably priced and the bundles help save money which makes it an affordable option for home projects like this, as well as for hobbyists who want to try their hand at making more personalised pieces. This machine can cut a variety of materials including heat transfer vinyl, paper, card and even felt. But its biggest selling point is just how incredibly quiet it is.
I knew this was a low volume machine before trying it, but I was still surprised at just how quiet is was when I first set it working. I had to check it had actually started! It is the quietest machine on the market, which makes this perfect for smaller homes or communal spaces. I’ve run this from my coffee table whilst watching the television. I’ve even ran it whilst my children are watching and they didn’t say a word! If you’ve ever tried to watch television with children you’ll know how impressive that is.
One thing I noticed is the app needs to be running for the machine to be working. You will need to switch off auto lock if you’re using a phone or iPad to keep the machine going without interruptions. But if the machine does get disconnected from the app then it’s easy to pick up the project where you left off.
I was very impressed with the quality of the cut and the heat transfer vinyl felt soft once pressed onto the fabric. All in all this is a great starter machine for the price! You can find more information and buy your own machine LokLik cutting machine here.
