Yes, you can make your own. I just used a square ruler from my collection and placed 2 pieces of clear tape across the top. I drew the lines on the tape with a sharpie. It worked okay and If you just want to do a wallhanging or tablerunner it's fine. If I wanted to make a quilt, I would buy the tool. It has cute little feet on the underside to keep the tool steady for cutting. At the time I made mine, I could not find the tool at my LQS.