I posted a few pictures of a sweater and Tee shirts that I made recently, and somebody suggested that I write a post about the whole process... so here it is!

The items I've made use Heat Transfer vinyl for the graphics. I have a machine that will cut out the design, and use a heat press to apply it.

The Design Phase

It's no secret that I'm absolutely horrible at drawing and art in general... so the stuff I'm making is using graphics that I've purchased from Etsy. The first step is finding a cool picture to use. I've purchased this one (sans PROOF text):

Design Process

If the shirt requires multiple different colours, then I'd need to break down the layers in Illustrator or Photoshop so that the software will know to cut each layer separately (so as to not waste vinyl). This pattern is going to remain all white I think. I was debating making the text a different colour but I don't think that's necessary. I'll keep it all white.

Once I'm satisfied with the graphic(s) I will upload them to the Cricut software that my cutter uses, then import it to a new canvas

The scale is a bit hard to determine, so I will use the "Classic Tee Shirt" template to see how it will look. Templates don't actually get cut with the pattern - they don't even save with your project - if you plan on going back to edit your project more later, you will have to add the template back in again.

Now you can see that this image is HUGE! So I need to scale it down a bit. The canvas that I use is roughly 12 x 10 inches, so I'll scale it down to fit the size of the vinyl. If I wanted it larger than the bounds of a single piece of vinyl, I could possibly separate the text from the graphic and cut them on separate sheets.

In this case, I'll just set the height to 11, and keep the proportions locked so that it scales appropriately.

The graphic looks a bit blotchy and weird, but this is only because of the zoom level.

You can see that when I zoom in, all the detail is still there. As the software requires vector-based images, the graphics can be scaled infinitely in either direction without the details being distorted. Obviously there are some limitations in the cutting process - too small and it will not cut properly, too large and it won't fit on your sheet.

The Cutting Process

Now that the design is good, it's time to run the job through the cutting machine. I use a Cricut Maker. The Vinyl I'm using is Kassa brand that I bought off Amazon (non-affiliate link to the Canadian Amazon here). I'll be cutting it on a Cricut-brand 30x30 cutting mat at regular speed and medium pressure. Before cutting, it's important to make sure you select the option in the software to mirror the image - otherwise your shirt design will be applied in reverse.

The vinyl is two-sided. When you apply the vinyl to the cutting mat, you need to make sure the white side is facing up, as it is the side that needs to be adhered to the fabric.

Depending on the pattern you're cutting, it can take anywhere from a few seconds to 10-20 minutes (or maybe even more if it's REALLY intricate).

One thing to be mindful of is small details. I'll get into this later, but intricate designs (like this one lol) are a pain to deal with

Cutting process is complete! This will be the working side for the next step. It's a bit hard to see, so let's flip it over and take a quick look...

Looks good! Now for the tedious part...

Weeding Time!

Now that the pattern has been cut, it's time to weed! Weeding is the process of removing all the negative space vinyl - the stuff that you *don't* want on your shirt from the sheet of vinyl. Depending on the pattern you've cut, this can be really tedious work. This pattern took me about an hour to weed out, and I made a few screw-ups along the way. The problem with intricate designs is that sometimes the smaller details get lifted out with the junk you don't want. Sometimes it can be a real fight to get them to stick to the plastic sheet in the right way if you have to place it back down. Sometimes you're lifting up one spot, but it branches off and you don't realize it - next thing you know, you've accidentally removed a key part of the design and you have to go through the mess to find the piece and align it back on the transfer plastic.

A weeding tool is used to get the bits of vinyl out that you don't want. It looks a bit like a big dentist pick, and the point is fairly sharp. You can pierce the vinyl with it to help lift it off the sheet.

Here's the start of the whole process. I've removed the excess around the outside of the sheet, but as you can see it gets really messy really fast. It's always good to cut into the junk vinyl to keep the working area clean and manageable. As the weeded vinyl starts to branch off it becomes harder to remove around intricate details without accidentally lifting them up as well. You need to try to focus only on one spot at a time.

Coming along slowly but surely. You can see that I've already screwed up in a few places. Some of the feather segments have lifted and been lost. They were too small to find. It's not a HUGE issue but a bit frustrating nonetheless.

All done! This probably took about an hour to complete and as you can see, mistakes were made along the way. Those tiny details that I lost were too small to find/save, so I'll just have to do without them Overall it's not too bad, though.

You'll also notice that I cut off a lot of the excess plastic around the design - a lot of the smaller bits of weeded vinyl gets stuck to it and you have to clean it all away. Quickest way is to just cut the border, then slowly pick out the rest from off the pattern.

Ironing!

This is absolutely the most stressful part of the whole task. Making sure that the pattern is on the shirt straight and properly aligned. Once the iron hits, there's no going back.

The process itself is simple once everything's centered and straightened. Set the iron to 310-315 degrees, apply medium force, and move the iron around for about 15-30 seconds. You'll notice a sheet between the pattern and the iron - this prevents any vinyl that's made it on the other side of the plastic from inadvertently getting stuck to the iron. It also helps the iron slide around the pattern a bit easier.

Doing my best to get it straight and centered between the sleeves. I think I adjusted it a few times even after taking this picture lol

I use a Cricut EasyPress to apply the design to the shirt. It lets you fine-tune the temperature, has a built-in timer, and covers a pretty large surface area so you can get the job done quickly.

Applying heat to the vinyl transfer. The brown piece is the Teflon sheet that you put between the pattern and your iron. It helps keep the iron moving smoothly and prevents you from accidentally ironing any bits of loose vinyl to the iron itself.

Peel and Reveal!

And this part is the satisfying reveal! Before the plastic layer has a chance to get too cold, you need to slowly and gently pull the plastic layer back making sure that all of the vinyl has been properly adhered to the shirt. If any of it lifts, you'll want to place the plastic down, put the protective layer back on, and apply the iron for another 15 seconds or so, then continue to gently lift the plastic off once it's cooled down just enough to safely handle.

Even though you'll have already had a rough idea on how it will look when you were aligning it, the details are still so much sharper and the colours are much more vibrant once the plastic layer has been removed.

You can really see the contrast and sharpness of the design once the plastic layer is peeled off.

There was a small ironing mishap where a piece of vinyl near the "R" got applied that shouldn't be there. I was able to get it removed later without much of a fight. It didn't get ironed on too firmly so I was able to peel it off. Same with the weird bit by the "H" in the next picture.

Final Product