inside: get all the details to create easy DIY family reunion shirts or other event shirts with heat transfer vinyl. Electronic cutting machines make creating custom shirts easy and quick.
I see a lot of families getting custom shirts for family events and summer reunions. I love this idea {I love matching clothes} and today I’m going to share an idea to make your own DIY family reunion shirts. For the past 12 years I’ve been creating some sort of matching/coordinating clothes for our summer family time. This year I just made simple DIY cousin shirts with heat transfer vinyl and this post will give you all the details to create the same.
DIY family reunion shirts
If you’ve been following along here for awhile you know this is a yearly post. {haha} I’ve been trying to mix up the types of clothes/shirts I create to give you all ideas for your own family reunion or cousin shirts.
I had about 2 minutes to shoot these photos and keep everyone’s attention. There are now 13 kids aged 15 years to 3 months in our family now and the window of happiness is very short. {haha}
This year I was very pleased that this group was willing to make a video with me as well. You can see the video below. It’s a fun one, so make sure to check it out.
Custom shirts with heat transfer vinyl
I’ve written a post detailing how to use heat transfer vinyl to create fun family reunion shirts, so I won’t get into every detail here. You can see the brief overview in the video below. Check out my how to use heat transfer vinyl post here for all the details on creating shirts with vinyl.
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Supplies:
- Shirts
- Heat transfer vinyl
- cutting machine {I use the Brother ScanNCut}
- iron or heat press
- T-shirt alignment tool
The very basic steps are given here.
- Grab shirts {I got these from Hobby Lobby and each family represented has their own color.}
- While I was at Hobby Lobby I grabbed heat transfer vinyl. For 13 shirts I needed 3 – 12″ x 24″ pieces.
- Use the cutting software that came with your machine to write your desired text. The font I used was just one of the included ones in Canvas Workspace {the Brother ScanNCut software}.
- MIRROR the image. Very important for heat transfer vinyl word with text. You are actually cutting on the back of the vinyl and will be flipped over when ironed on the shirt.
- Adjust the size of the text/graphic for smaller shirts.
- I cut three different sizes of the text to accommodate all the various shirt sizes.
- Weed the vinyl to reveal the words and then flip and place on your shirts.
- Use an iron or heat press to place words/decal on shirt.
- Heat until vinyl is fully fused into the fabric. I like to look at the vinyl and see if I can see the shirt fiber through it. This shows that the vinyl and shirt are now fully fused.
Matching cousin shirts through the years
Here’s a peak at all the other outfits/shirts I’ve created over the years. It’s also fun to see how our family has grown from just a couple of kids to thirteen this summer!
cousins outfits through the years
click on the photo for each for details
Kathy Chandonais says
Reunion T-Shirts! I love this trend. Years ago when we moved from CA to MT we hosted a family reunion for 22 people. My husband worked tirelessly planning white water raft trips, horseback rides, outdoor games, etc. I did exactly what you suggested – T-shirts for everyone with Grandma’s Gang and a picture of my mother in law on the front. Everyone loved them, and we have a picture of everyone together wearing the shirts. Thanks for the memories, Emily.
donkey kong says
The shirts look so pretty and cute. Maybe I’ll make a set for my family.