inside: learn tips and tricks for how to use heat transfer vinyl to make your own custom shirts.

I love making custom shirts for my kids and as gifts. It’s great to have the ability to make shirts for school theme days or party favors or birthday gifts. I’ve had SO many reasons over the years for using my Scan N Cut to make amazing shirts with heat transfer vinyl. I’m excited to share some tips for how to apply heat transfer vinyl so you can make great shirts {and other projects} too!

How to Use Heat Transfer Vinyl-

I’m going to use the process of making this bug/insect shirt to show you how to apply heat transfer vinyl. I’ll walk through the whole process and then give you tips and tricks I’ve learned along the way. You can also find a concise printable version of my heat transfer vinyl tips at the bottom of this post. 

I recent made this shirt for a friend of ours who was turning 9 and is obsessed with bugs. You can download the free svg for this shirt HERE. 

I was pretty excited with how it turned out. Buggy, yet very girly. Let’s walk though making this custom vinyl shirt step by step. 

First let’s gather your supplies. You will need – 

• Electronic Cutting Machine
• Shirt, bag or other “thing” to vinyl
• Heat Transfer Vinyl

I used the provided bug SVG but wanted to cut it out of lots of colors. You can also cut the design out of one color.   Check out the video that is attached to this post for this tutorial in action. If you have an ad blocker you will need to disable in order to see the video. 

I divided up my design by color. The words were cut first out of the blue vinyl. 

Use any electronic cutting machine to cut your design. Cut each color/design separately. 

how to heat transfer vinyl-

Next you will “weed” your designs. This refers to picking the extra vinyl from around the designs that you cut. I love these tools for weeding. 

This design had a lot of different pieces due to the colors. I have five colors of vinyl in this design. 

After you have all your vinyl ready to cut, trim any extra clear plastic. You want to leave a bit extra, but not too much as it will keep you from laying out your design. Layout the design to your liking. After you have it arranged… remove the vinyl and then HEAT your fabric. Before you iron the vinyl to the shirt, make sure to prep by heating the fabric. Then, put the design back in place and follow the below tips for applying. 

how to apply heat transfer vinyl-

Use PRESSURE! This is my top tip. If you don’t have a heat press… {and most of us don’t} you will really need to lean on your iron while applying vinyl. 

Here’s a close up of how the vinyl has fused into the fabric. You want to see this in the vinyl to make sure it won’t peel later. 

And you did it!! Gorgeous custom vinyl shirts in no time! Use a design from online or one you design and use this tutorial to create your own shirts with heat transfer vinyl. 

heat transfer vinyl tips

Print

make your own custom shirts with heat transfer vinyl. Leave how to use heat transfer vinyl to create amazing projects.

Materials

• Basic Shirts
• OR blank Canvas
• Heat Transfer Vinyl

Tools

• Electronic Craft Cutter

Instructions

1. Divide up your design by color {in the Scan N Cut software just hide the designs you dont want to cut}
2. Cut each color of heat transfer separately
3. Weed out the extra vinyl to reveal your design. Trim around each piece.
4. Place all the pieces on your shirt/bag. Arrange as you like. If you are making layers - arrange the first layer only.
5. Remove the vinyl and HEAT the fabric to prep for vinyl.
6. Iron on the design. Use PRESSURE! I really lean on my iron while heating.
7. Check vinyl to see that it has fused into the fabric - you should be able to see the fabric texture through the vinyl.
8. Let cool - Remove the clear cover.
9. If you have a second layer of vinyl lay it over the the first layer. Make sure to cover all exposed vinyl with clear protector before ironing. Trust me - I've made this mistake with the second layer! You can always use parchment paper to protect the vinyl you have already applied.

Here are some other vinyl projects you may enjoy –

Dessert Shirt – 

Custom Shirts DIY – 

Using offset lines –