Cutting a Stencil

In the last post I showed you my design for a bike flag, and since then I've begun to cut the stencil. Cutting is hard on my hands-- they got tired before halfway, so I'll continue later.

1. Tape design to a cutting mat.

2. Tape acetate in place.

3. Cut with an exacto-knife (I added paint so you could see the cut out area).

Some stencil cutting tips:

• Turn the stencil so you can always pull the knife downward.
• Curves are hard to cut- make short straight cuts and turn the stencil as you go.
• If you miss-cut, you can add a piece of masking tape, top and bottom, to repair.

4. Test stenciling.