How To Use Htv Vinyl

Learn how to make vinyl shirts, tote bags, and much more with iron on vinyl! If y'all are new to working with vinyl, it can be a bit overwhelming, merely this footstep-by-step guide will teach you exactly how to use rut transfer vinyl, and yous will exist making custom tees and more in no time! This post contains chapter links, which aid to support this site at no actress price to yous.

how to use heat transfer vinyl for beginners

If you are new to the world of working with heat transfer vinyl, then you are in the right place! This is my complete beginner's guide to using heat transfer or fe on vinyl, and I am here to show you how to utilise estrus transfer vinyl then you lot tin can first making!

Oestrus transfer vinyl (aka HTV) is hands-down my favorite way to personalize gifts for friends. I mean, who doesn't dear a fun new t-shirt? And with heat transfer vinyl, you can hands customize it to exist something personal that they will dearest. Merely iron on vinyl is not but good for t-shirts! You tin can use it on tote numberless, leather notebooks, shoes, and even forest!

Ready to become crafting with heat transfer vinyl? Let'due south do this!

PSST – If you are brand new to crafting with vinyl, be sure to check out my Vinyl 101 page to find all of my vinyl resources for beginners.

How to Use Estrus Transfer Vinyl with your Silhouette or Cricut

In that location are a few basic steps to working with heat transfer vinyl, and I volition walk you through each one. They are preparing your cutting file, cut, weeding, and applying. That'due south it! To walk you through the processing of making your ain fe on vinyl projects, I am going to make myself a new t-shirt (yay!) using my Craft Queen design that you tin get over in my So Fontsy shop.

1. Prepare Cut File

The offset step in crafting with heat transfer vinyl is to prepare your blueprint to cutting in the cutting machine software you are using. (If you do not have an electronic cutting machine like a Silhouette or Cricut, you can cutting heat transfer vinyl past hand. Check out this projection I did completely cutting by hand for more info on that.)

What'south a Cut File?

When I say "cut file," I mean the design that you desire to cut from vinyl and put on your shirt or other surface. The most mutual cut file blazon is probably SVG, but you might exist using a .Studio, .png, .dxf, or .jpg file depending on the software you are using. I personally am a fan of SVG files because they work with most cut software. (NOTE: You lot must take at Silhouette Studio Designer Edition or college to utilize SVG files, and I definitely recommend that Silhouette users upgrade to Silhouette Studio Designer Edition.)

Where to Find Cut Files

If y'all are looking for cutting files, then be sure to check out the complimentary cut files I accept here on the blog. I too accept a cut file shop and participate in a monthly cut file bundle that you may want to check out. Finally, I am too regularly pinning cutting files to my Silhouette board hither.

For this shirt, I used my Arts and crafts Queen blueprint, which is bachelor for purchase in my shop.

Scale Design

Once you lot have your pattern and surface picked out, you need to measure your surface to decide how big you will need to cutting the design.

Beginner's Guide to Cutting and Applying Iron On Vinyl

I am using a t-shirt that I got from Happy Crafters, which is a great footling vinyl store that also carries tons of awesome bare shirts just waiting to be vinyl-ed. I simply used my ruler to become a general idea of how wide and tall I wanted to cut my design. I decided to cut it about 8 inches broad.

Once yous know how large y'all desire to cut your design, open up the cutting file in your cutting software. Next, y'all will demand to scale the image to the correct size. Simply click on the design and then utilise the handles in the corners to scale it down to the size you want.

Mirror Design

Next, yous need to mirror or flip your design horizontally. The reason that y'all demand to mirror your design when working with heat transfer or iron on vinyl, you cut the design on the back side of the vinyl. HTV has a clear plastic carrier sheet that covers the top of the vinyl, and the other side is where the oestrus-sensitive agglutinative is (information technology is non gluey or tacky to the touch). You cutting your design on the agglutinative side, and then the clear plastic sheet on the other side holds your blueprint in place until it is applied to your shirt or other surface. And then, to make sure our design looks right when it is applied to the final surface, nosotros demand to start mirror or flip the pattern before cutting.

This is really simple to practise with any machine y'all have. I will show you how to practise it both in the Silhouette Studio software and in Cricut Design Space. To mirror the design in Silhouette Studio, click on the object to select it. Then, choose the Mirror option from the Object drop down menu and and then select Flip Horizontally (meet epitome below).

how to use heat transfer vinyl - mirror design

The process is really similar in Cricut Pattern Space. Later uploading your pattern, select information technology, and then click Flip > Flip Horizontally (run into image beneath).

That's it! Your pattern is now scaled and mirrored and all ready to cut.

two. Cut Pattern from Heat Transfer Vinyl

At present we are ready to load our heat transfer or fe on vinyl into the cutting motorcar.

Identify HTV on Cutting Mat

It is possible to cutting vinyl directly from the roll without a mat using your Silhouette, and I will add a post all about how to exercise that soon, merely for now, permit's just focus on how to cut with a cutting mat. Y'all can go Silhouette Cameo cutting mats in 12″ 10 12" and 12″ 10 24″. The Cricut cutting mats are actually similar, and I have used Cricut mats with my Silhouette

Whatsoever mat and machine you are using, put your HTV glossy side down onto your mat and then yous will be cut on the matte side (run across paradigm below). Recollect, we are cut on dorsum side of the vinyl where the estrus-sensitive agglutinative is. This side will be more matte. The glossy side of the vinyl is the side with the clear plastic backing. For my Arts and crafts Queen shirt I used a smooth gold HTV. If your vinyl came on a ringlet, you lot can cut off a piece to fit on your mat.

how to use heat transfer vinyl - which side to cut on

Adjust Cut Settings and Cut

Finally, adapt your cut settings to work with the textile you are using. This process will be a little bit different for every cutting machine, only just make sure to choose the settings for the particular type of rut transfer vinyl you are using (flocked HTV will take very different settings from shine HTV, for case). Working with my Silhouette, I selected Heat Transfer Textile, Smooth from the Materials menu.

I recommend doing a small test cut, particularly when you are working with a new fabric to brand sure the cut settings volition work well with the material you are using before attempting to cut the entire design.

When you lot are happy with your cutting settings, load your cutting mat with the vinyl shiny side down into your motorcar, and cutting!

cutting heat transfer vinyl with silhouette

3. Weed out Backlog Vinyl

The adjacent step is called "weeding." Basically, weeding simply means removing any backlog vinyl from around your design that you do not desire to be transferred to your final product.

How to Avoid Wasting Vinyl when Weeding

If your cut design is considerably smaller than the slice of vinyl you cut it from, and then before weeding, I recommend trimming off that extra vinyl. You tin but use a pair of pair of scissors to cutting around your design. This allows you to employ the rest of your vinyl piece for another project. (In my weeding images below, I really cutting a rectangle around my design with my Silhouette kickoff and and then trimmed off the extra vinyl with scissors after weeding. Either style works!)

Tips for Weeding Heat Transfer Vinyl

To weed off the backlog vinyl, you volition need some kind of tool. I personally use, love, and recommend this weeding hook. It is abrupt and works groovy for removing that vinyl. You tin also apply a Silhouette claw, a Cricut claw, tweezers, a craft knife, or even a directly pin.

Sometimes information technology tin can be a little bit difficult to see your cut lines when weeding. Sometimes bending your vinyl a flake can assistance y'all see the cut lines like in the image below.

Yous tin can also attempt holding the cut piece of vinyl up to a window or lite to help you see the lines. In that location is likewise the option of the Cricut bright pad, which is designed to help y'all come across cut lines to brand weeding easier.

In one case yous find your cut lines, use your hook or other weeding tool to grab one of the edges and elevator upwards the excess vinyl or negative space from the carrier canvass. I like to start by removing the vinyl from effectually my design showtime and then remove the pieces from inside letters and other parts of the pattern.

Once you have all the backlog vinyl removed from your design, yous can flip it over and run across how your final design volition wait through the clear plastic carrier. This is a good time to make sure you have weeded everything y'all don't want to transfer to your terminal project.

4. Fe!

Now nosotros are all ready to transfer our cut and weeded design to our t-shirt! To activate the adhesive on the heat transfer vinyl, you need two things: heat and pressure, both of which we can get using an iron. If you lot apply a lot of rut transfer vinyl, and then you may want to get a heat press or Easy Press down the road, but for today we will only focus on using an iron. If possible, 1 that doesn't have a agglomeration of big steam holes on the bottom will work best, but you can work with any yous have at abode.

Where to Iron

Because the heat transfer vinyl's agglutinative requires some pressure to activate, I recommend that yous do not use a folding ironing lath to utilize your HTV designs. Yous don't want to exist pushing down on your ironing board and take it collapse beneath your pressure! To really get good pressure, I prefer to use an ironing pad like this one on a sturdy tabular array instead of a folding ironing lath. Yous tin can also try putting a wooden cut board on your tabular array.

How to Iron

Start past plugging your fe in and putting information technology on the cotton setting with the steam turned off. Next, position your pattern on your surface with the clear plastic carrier sheet on top so the design reads correctly.

I prefer to cover the plastic carrier sheet with a piece of parchment paper or thin cotton fabric. I find that this helps to protect my surface and keeps my vinyl from overheating or warping.

Press down on your iron and apply pressure to each office of the design for around 10-20 seconds. Some types of HTV volition require more or less heat and time, then be certain to bank check the instructions for the material you are using. I like to do a little bit of time, and so check the design to run into how it is going. More time under the iron is not necessarily better as too much heat can cook the vinyl or ruin the agglutinative. Information technology's also good to be aware of holes on the bottom of your iron. If your iron has holes on the bottom, exist sure to motility it around as you press to brand certain each part of the design is getting heat and pressure.

When y'all you lot have given oestrus and pressure to each part of the design, you lot tin can slowly kickoff to peel up the carrier sail. If the vinyl starts to come up with the carrier sheet, then yous need to replace the carrier sheet and your cover sheet and give it some more heat and force per unit area.

NOTE: Some types of heat transfer vinyl are "cold peel," which ways you must allow the vinyl tocool completely before removing the clear plastic canvas.

After removing the plastic carrier sheet, I similar to flip my projection upside downwardly or inside out and use some more heat to the behind to ensure a really good awarding. With smooth heat transfer vinyl, you can run into that you take a expert application when yous can run into the weave of the fabric through the vinyl (see the prototype beneath).

One time the iron on vinyl has been properly applied it is ready for wearing, using, and laundering. Allow the adhesive to cure for at least 24 hours before washing. Once information technology has cured, information technology tin be washed and dried. For best results, wash inside out with cold water and hang to dry or tumble dry on depression.

And that'due south it! Everything you demand to know to make your very commencement HTV project!

I promise this post was helpful for y'all. If you have whatever questions on how to use heat transfer vinyl, become ahead and drop them in the comments below. 🙂 And if y'all would like to see more than in depth teaching on how to craft with vinyl and a Silhouette, you may want to bank check out my online course, Venture into Vinyl.

Now that you lot know how to use rut transfer vinyl to make a simple t-shirt, you might want to attempt out some more avant-garde HTV techniques:

Learn the knockout technique for layering heat transfer vinyl without actress thickness.
Learn how to utilise rut transfer vinyl to wood.
Learn how to apply estrus transfer vinyl to leather.

If you would like to co-operative out into the earth of adhesive vinyl and brand your ain DIY vinyl decals, exist sure to bank check out my beginner's guide on using adhesive vinyl correct here.

Until next time, Happy Making!