Die Cutter enthusiasts, please will you share your knowledge?!

[Simmylou]

I have seen some adorable felt flowers which start off looking like circles of felt cut from pastry cutters I have learned the pieces have been die cut with a machine (rather than traced and cut by hand). It is this in particular I want to produce.

I have heard of these machines but can anyone give me an idiot's guide on how they work, decent brands, how much to pay for a good one and if they cut paper as well as fabric, are they electrical, how many pieces do they cut at once, what do YOU mainly use your die cutter for, how many accessories do you have (I presume you buy seperate cutting outlines to go in the machine??).... etc etc. Any bit of advice welcome!

Thanks so much that's really useful. I would probably want electric too as I'm planning on making felt flower garlands which would require a lot of felt circles - don't fancy doing those by hand crank! (have seen a vid on youtube and although she made it look easy I think it would probably get sore after a while.

I looked on the Sizzix website and found a scallop circle that looks like the shape I'm after, here Not too sure if it works on felt though! I guess I can call them up and ask in advance. The Big Shot machine seems to be on sale for £55 most places at the moment down from £75 so that's good. I have scallop scissors and I have tried cutting circles out but the scissors are stiff and hard to cut with so I'm definitely going to invest in a die cutter.

can i suggest a blog by fiddlefart shes fab and v inspirational.

Thanks jolly and brandy (hope you don't mind the shortening!) they are great suggestions.

I'm all excited about it now!