One of my favourite new hobbies is engraving on Denim. Whether it’s a pair of jeans, a denim jacket or just denim scraps to be used in a cushion cover or bag, I really like the look and it’s so easy to do.
Let’s take a look at how we can engrave on denim using the xTool M1. But firstly I want to say what a great machine this is. Not only can I laser engrave and cut, but it has a blade cutting function that really makes it stand apart from our other lasers. So it’s like a Brother ScanNcut or Cricut only more. I love it for cutting and engraving on cardstock, cutting out vinyl, and quilting cotton and making stickers.
Buying Links
- xTool M1 Ultra – Link to the updated machine. We have the older version which no longer seems to be available.
- Etsy – Phoenix Design
Links to our other xTool M1 videos
But I digress, so let’s get on and talk about how to engrave on a piece of denim.
Open the xTool Creative Space software on your computer.
Come up to File on the menu bar, and I’m going to import my image from my computer.
The image I’m using for this project is a phoenix. I’ve have used this image before it’s a lovely design that is suitable for so many projects. The image is available from Etsy and they have such an amazing array of designs available. It’s well worth your while to take a look, I know you will be delighted with the amazing range of designs on offer.
So I now have my design sitting in Creative Space. I don’t need the outline, so I’m just going to highlight the outline and delete it
I also don’t need the wording so I’ll remove the wording as well.
I want the pattern to measure six inches, so I come up to the width setting on the menu bar and type in 6. That will set the size of my design.
Come over to the right hand sidebar. Leave the setting on Laser Flat.
Now I want to select my material so I go to use the Defined Materials. Here you will find that xTool have the settings for a lot of preset materials.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing in the list for denim or fabric They do have a more comprehensive list of preset materials in their online library of so I check that, and there is nothing for denim. I’m going to have to work this out for myself, and I will talk about what I’m going to do, so just close that off.
I have cut my denim to measure 7″, this allows for me to trim the material back once it’s engraved. Pop the piece of denim into the machine.
Now, when I do that and close the lid, the machine takes a an image of what’s on the base. You can see it’s quite dark, but if you look closely, you can see the piece of denim sitting there on the mat.
I’ll just move my design over so that it is sitting on top of that piece of denim.
Press on the auto measure function and the machine will measure the depth of my denim.
Once that has finished I just select the Engrave Button as I’m going to engrave not cut.
I’ve worked out my settings and I’m going to set my power at 100 and my speed at 225.
I’ve worked with denim before and I know that these settings work without burning through the material.
Now press the Process Button, and this brings up this next screen and we’re going to select Framing in the software and we also need to press the button on the machine.
What happens next, is that the laser head will frame the design and this gives us the opportunity to make sure the material is in the right position and that the design is in the right position.
Okay, once it’s done, that we press Framing Complete, and select start, and once again we also need to press the button on the front of the machine.
And off it goes. The Laser Head starts working its way across the piece of denim and engraving our design? This takes a little while and before long you can see the phoenix is starting to form.
Our xTool M1 has finished engraving our gorgeous phoenix design
Remove the material from the machine. You can see in this photo that the laser hasn’t cut all the way through the fabric, it’s just engraved through the top layer of the material.
So I hope you will give engraving on denim a go. It’s certainly a great way to use up your denim scraps for bags, cushion covers or even a quilt.
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