Have you ever wanted to make your own t-shirt design? Do you have a great saying that is quintessentially you that needs to be displayed on your person? Is it hard to find graphic t-shirts in your size or in a style of t-shirt that you like? I am going to show you how to make your own on a t-shirt that you already love with the Cricut Maker and the Cricut EasyPress 2.
Links in this post may be affiliate links. If you decide to buy something then I might get a bit of compensation for my time and effort at no extra cost to you. This post is sponsored by Cricut.
I know sometimes the most daunting part of getting a new gadget is how to use it and in this case it is just a matter of learning to use the software. It is not hard at all, if you can use a sewing machine you can do this, I promise. I made this video to show you how I made my designs:
I walk you through my design process in the video so it is a little bit longer than my usual videos.
Here is a link to the design that I used for the teal over dyed t-shirt and the tattoo designs that I can't wait to put on my sleeves.
When you open these designs they will look something like this:
At the bottom you will see a button that says customize. You will click on that button.
The Design will come up and you will see all of the pieces that you or I have put in. In this case I made this design in a few colors. I thought it would be cool to cut it out of a bunch of colors and layer it to make an embroidery type design. I didn't want to make this first tutorial too complicated though so I am just using the white this time around.
Since this design is already ready to cut for you all you need to do is click Make It (the green button).
Here on the left side just under the space that says 12"x12" (that is the size of your mat by the way) there is a little toggle that says Mirror and then a switch and you can switch that on and off. If you are cutting something that has a left and right and needs to go the right direction (like words) then you need to switch the mirror on. The reason that you have to mirror is that you will be cutting from the back of the material. Click the continue button at the bottom.
You will get a cutting screen like this... It gives you three steps and all you have to do is follow the numbers. You will choose your material that you are cutting. As you can see the favorites that I have set are here on the screen... I cut a lot of cotton with my Maker :) ... but since the Iron On is not on my favorites I will search for it by clicking the green writing that says "All Materials"
In the Search bar I just type "iron" and these pop up for me. I can choose the kind of Iron-On I am using. In this case I just choose regular Iron-On. The patterned iron-on that I used for my purple shirt (I will show that a little later) is lighter so I would definitely want to use the proper setting for that.
Once I choose the proper material the second step is to load the mat with the material and put in the proper blade. The software tells me which blade to use and how to load the mat.
I place the vinyl shiny side down on the mat and use my brayer to smooth out the air bubbles.
Third step tells me to press Go. And once you are to this step the machine Go light will start flashing:
It's the one that looks like a little "c" with antennae.
Press the button and watch it do it's thing...
Once it is done you will have to weed the vinyl. What that means is you will have to remove the excess material from the transfer tape so that you have just the design that you want on the tape. There are great tools for this called weeding tools they look like this:
These are the designs that I am using. I left some of the pieces in that could have been weeded out because I liked the designs a little simpler. This was a simple one to weed it only took about 3 minutes. I had a video but thought it was too boring :) Then I added it to the end of the video I linked above :)
Next I used the washable marker to mark the center of my shirt at the top and a few inches down so I could get my design straight.
Then I placed the design on the center and lined it up to make sure that it looked how I wanted it to.
Then I plugged in my EasyPress 2.
And my whole world changed... just kidding but it was pretty epic! The EasyPress 2 is so awesome. For one thing it comes in 3 different sizes. There is one that fits every project. For the t-shirts there is one the is 12"x10" so it can cover the front of the t-shirt easily. There is a nice 9"x9" to fit kids t-shirts or a maybe a pillow. And the cute little mini that I have is 6"x7" which is great for baby onsies, sleeves, pockets...and all of your small item needs. As you will see the small one works great for the t-shirts too. So really pick the size that you think you will use most but know that they all will work on pretty much anything :)
I use the easy tool at this link to figure out how hot to set my temperature and how long to press my project. It heats up super fast, much faster than my iron and has a ceramic heat plate that ensures you get even heating across the whole surface. It goes all the way to 400 degrees. I am so amazed that you can get professional results in less than a minute with these easy portable machines. PS. isn't that raspberry color so awesome?
I put the EasyPress Mat inside the t-shirt in preparation for pressing. It keeps the press from damaging any surface that you are working on. Oh and while I am mentioning that (surface protection) the press itself comes with an insulates safety base that it sits in while it is heated that protects your work surface as well. as you can see I am using the mat on top of my cutting mat and doesn't hurt it at all.
Following the guide I pre-heat. Then position my iron-on. Then use the EasyPress 2 by placing it on, applying light pressure and pressing the Go button... it counts down the time for me and when it beeps it is ready to be removed. I was going around the v-neck on this t-shirt so I pressed it 3 times in all. Then removed the transfer tape. You can see video of that process at the end of the video that I linked above.
Then I applied the designs to the sleeves the same way and Voila! I was a little worried to use this on one of my favorite t-shirts since it get's washed often but the Cricut Everyday, Glitter and Sportflex Iron-On are all designed to go through 50 or more wash and dry cycles... Not only that but most of their Iron-On materials have a Stongbond Guarentee that says if they are applied according to direction they are guaranteed and they will be replaced for free if you are not satisfied.
Here the other shirt I made that I really love.. I am hoping to make a little collection of sewing and quilting related t-shirt designs.
you are a genius!
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