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Craft Product Review: Fabric Crafting with the Xyron Creatopia

Usually, when you hear “Xyron” you think of adhesives and paper crafting. However, for National Sewing Month I wanted to use my Xyron Creatopia in a different way- creating fabulous appliques using the Stickz Fabric Adhesive Cartridge and the Shapez Die-Cutting component.

A while ago, I reviewed the Creatopia for Craft Critique, and found some issues with it. However, since then, they have tweaked the design, so I wanted to look at it with fresh eyes.

So first, let’s see what the company says about they Xyron Creatopia Machine:

Creatopia is your all-in-one creative companion. Apply 3 types of adhesive and laminate to a variety of surfaces such as paper, fabric, craft metal, vellum and more. Cut items into strips using straight or decorative edges and emboss full sheets of paper and borders. You can also die cut shapes using leading manufacturers’ dies. Best of all, Creatopia does not require heat, electricity or batteries. Just turn the handle and crank it out!

Features:
  • Machine includes 25 feet of Acid-Free Permanent Adhesive.
  • Easy to change components, easy to use. Simply insert your item, turn the handle and remove.
  • Other components sold separately.
In the previous version, I had difficulty swapping out the components. And since I wasn’t using the regular adhesive with this review, it seemed like the first thing to try.
To remove the cartridge, you move the handle from the {1} position, to the {3} position. Do do this, you depress the center lock buttons on either side of the handle. You hear a little “pop” and then slide the handle to the back of the machine. I was pleasantly surprised that this was really easy to do now- no more tugging and man-handling!
Once you’ve slid the handle back, you can easily remove the cartridge by pulling straight up on the lip. Then, slide the new cartridge in, tuck the end of the adhesive between the rollers, and bring the handle back into the upright, locked position. Now you are ready to go.
I started by running some cotton fabrics (commonly called “quilter’s cotton”) that I’d painted with Martha Stewart Paints mixed with Tintable Fabric Medium through the Stickz fabric adhesive cartridge. Here’s some info about the fabric adhesive:

Stickz by Xyron are the easiest way to apply even edge-to-edge adhesive to items up to 12 inches wide and ½ inch thick. Stickz are acid-free and non-toxic.

Fabric Adhesive is repositionable with fabric-to-fabric use, but adheres more aggressively on other surfaces.

SKU: 3502-10-40
Features:
  • Perfect for: Appliqués on quilts, garments and crafts, machine embroidery, book and album covers, scrapbooking, card making, home décor and craft projects.

Using Stickz fabric adhesive.

Note to self- you might want to make sure your fabrics are well-ironed… if you feed it through and it wrinkles, it will have areas without adhesive on the back.  Then all you have to do is take the protective plastic sheet off of the top, and you are ready for die-cutting with the Shapez component!
To insert the Shapez component, you’ll first unlock the handle and slide it to position {3} as you did to swap out the cartridge. Just pull out the cartridge and set it aside. Then slide the handle back into the {1} position and it will lock into place. To take out the rollers, you’ll depress both of the “lock” buttons on either side of the machine. Again, you’ll hear an audible “pop” as the rollers are released. Just lift the handle up and the whole component will come out easily.

Empty base unit.

Inserting the Shapez unit couldn’t be easier- insert the unit into the notches at the bottom, then slide to the right to lock it into the gears.
Here’s some info on the Shapez component:

Embellish projects by cutting shapes and embossing designs into paper, fabric and other thin materials up to 6 ½ inches wide. Includes die press plates and embossing mats.

Includes 5 Platez (2 – Thin Pink, 1- Medium Clear, 1 – Thick White, 1 – Rubber Mat)

Features:
  • Works With the Following Dies and Folders:
  • AccuQuilt® Go!â„¢
  • BossKut®
  • Ellison® AllStarâ„¢
  • ProvoCraft® Cuttlebugâ„¢ & Cuttlekidsâ„¢
  • QuicKutz® Cookie Cutterâ„¢, SingleKutzâ„¢, Goosebumpzâ„¢ & Embossing Folders
  • Sizzix® Clearlitsâ„¢, Sizzlits®, Embosslitsâ„¢, Textured Impressionsâ„¢, Simple Impressionsâ„¢, Bigzâ„¢, Originalsâ„¢, Movers and Shapersâ„¢
  • Spellbindersâ„¢ Shapeabilitiesâ„¢, Frameabilitiesâ„¢, Borderabilitiesâ„¢, Megabilitiesâ„¢ & Nestabilitiesâ„¢

Shapez components inserted into the Creatopia base.

By the way, the “new” redesigned Creatopia has a locking handle that works the gears- it’s a small but needed improvment! You can still fold it up for storage, but now the handle won’t flip up while you’re working.
I’ve been playing with a new Fresh Vintage Sizzix Die for an upcoming blog hop, so I cut out multiple butterflies. But I should mention that you can use Spellbinders dies, Cuttlebug Dies, and other brands with the Shapez component. The only ones that won’t fit are the extra-wide ones. I love that I can use my favorite paper crafting dies to make appliques!

Sizzix "Fresh Vintage" Die used with the Shapez Componenet of the Xyron Creatopia.

Next up was to layer the shapes- and since the adhesive is already on the back, it’s so easy to layer and apply the die-cut fabric shapes. (Also note that the top layer of the butterfly is very detailed, and it cut cleanly with the fabric adhesive-and the release paper- on the back.)

Layered and ready to sew.

The last test of the day was to sew through the postcard and see how the fabric adhesive a) holds and b) interacts with the needle. Similar to my previous results, I found the adhesive had great “grab”- the top layer of the butterfly- which is fairly delicate- didn’t move or shift around at all during the layering, handling, or sewing. This adhesive has great “grab!”
As I did the free-motion and zig-zag sewing, the adhesive didn’t gum up the needle whatsoever. Nor did it create a stiffer feel to the piece. In other words, it’s great to sew through. Fabulous.

Detailed instructions on how to make this postcard coming up in a future post.

I only found one glitch with the Xyron Creatopia this time around- this time, I had some problems with adhesive getting on the rollers and cutting strip. This caused the release paper to try to wrap around the rollers and cause me a serious headache!  Here’s what it looked like:

Note the "spiderwebs" of adhesive on the lower edge of the black roller and the white cutting edge.

If this happens to you, pull the release paper out the back of the rollers to get it to straighten out, then cut. Next, remove the roller component entirely and use a rubber eraser to remove the adhesive from the rollers and the cutting edge. As I mentioned, the fabric adhesive is really aggressive and I couldn’t get it all off- so I used a little baby powder and a paint brush to “de-stickify” it. (Yes, that’s a technical term!)

All in all, I still feel that the Xyron Creatopia is a cool machine- it’s a great way to expand your paper crafting horizons with the Fabric Adhesive, and for folks who want to try die-cutting, it’s great to have a “two-fer.”  While the machine does have a sizable footprint, you do get two functions in one.

By the way, the base price of the Creatopia has DROPPED to about $99.99! Other price points of note:

  • Shapez Unit: $69.99
  • Stickz Fabric Adhesive Cart: $29.99
While it’s bit of an investment, for a fabric crafter/quilter/mixed media crafter, this machine will get some serious use!

Appliqued Snapsuit.

I’d love to hear your ideas/comments about the Xyron Creatopia below!

 

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Jenny Barnett Rohrs is Head Dummy and Pied Piper behind CTD, which focuses on reviews, tutorials, and craft industry news. Jenny has appeared on HSN, Scrapbook Soup PBS series, and is currently the co-host of Hands On Crafts for Kids on PBS.

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