The challenge when cutting faux fur or shaggy plush is the lint. If you just start cutting like you usually do, the hair and fibers will be severed and before you know it, they will be everywhere: on the floor, on your clothes, and in the worst case, in your eyes and mouth. The good news is: there is a way to minimize the mess! So we’ll show you how to cut fake fur and long-pile fabrics properly.

Before you take on the fight with the fur, you should arm yourself with the following things:

• Fabric scissors (as small and pointed as possible) or snap blade knife (as sharp as possible). ´
• Lint roller or (hand-held) vacuum cleaner

Watch this video tutorial from our Youtube Channel for a quick demonstration on how to cut plush fabrics:

How to cut fake fur – two ways:

First, draw the pattern on the wrong side of the fabric, paying attention to the direction of the nap. And then choose one of the following options:

Option #1: using scissors

When cutting, try to only cut through the fabric, but not the piles / hair! Cut straight lines as precisely as possible along the stitch path between the fibers. It gets a little more difficult if you cut curves or perpendicular to the thread line, but the same applies here: Use the scissors to push the fibers to the side and only cut through the weave. This works best if you only make very small cuts at a time. This way, the cutting takes longer than with “normal” fabrics, but good things take time! So the more time you take, the better the result will be.

Option #2: using a snap blade knife

Do not press the blade onto the cutting surface, but rather pull it loosely through the weave / fabric. Hold the part of the fabric to be cut taut between your thumb and forefinger (but be careful with your fingers!). This way you should just cut through the weave, not the hair.

If you follow one of the two tricks, the lint chaos should be limited. Now you can simply pick off any loose hair from the cut edge and tackle it with a lint roller and vacuum cleaner. If you want to be absolutely sure that there are no loose pieces of lint hanging on the fabric before sewing together, you can put the fabric pieces in the dryer at a low temperature with a damp washcloth for 10 minutes.

Use self-adhesive book cover to cut fake fur

Here’s another tip for people who are particularly sensitive to lint: stick the piece of shaggy fabric or fake fur that you want to cut with the right side of the fabric on a piece of self adhesive book cover. Then cut as described, but without cutting the book cover film. Once you’re done cutting, press the fabric lightly onto the book cover so that all loose lint sticks. Then you can peel off the cut piece and throw away the film with the leftover fabric and lint sticking to it.

If you wanna know how to pin a sew fake fur, check our next chapter!