First Projects Using Iron On Vinyl

Hello Scrappers and friends! When I first got my Cricut Explore I used Iron-on vinyl for the first time and I loved it! A lady on Facebook posted a sweatshirt she had designed and I just had to make myself one as well!

I told everyone about this machine and how many different things I can do with it. A guy I work with asked if I could make him a shirt for his "dream" automotive business. So I said sure why not, it would give me more practice anyways. He bought a shirt and gave it to me and told me what he wanted it to say on it. I went home to design it and cut it out. After you cut it out be sure to get all the unwanted pieces off, this is called "weeding". Before I ironed it on I took a picture of it and sent it to him to make sure it's what he wanted. Here is the final product.

Now a few tips I learned when ironing this on is:

 1. When ironing on the vinyl be sure to move the iron around and don't hold it in one place because it will cause the plastic liner to melt to the iron and it's not fun to peel off 
2. If you hold the iron in one place and keep it there it can cause the letters or design to crinkle and melt.
3. When cutting out the vinyl on your Cricut be sure to have the shiny side down on the mat and the dull side up

Shiny side

4. If you iron on your design in parts be sure to place or keep the plastic covering over the vinyl that you had previously ironed on before you try to iron on the other part because if you try to iron near or over the other it will come off and melt/crinkle. 
5. When I ironed it on I took the very tip of the iron and rubbed it over the letters constantly moving the iron until I see the fabric lines starting to show on the vinyl so that I knew for sure that the letters would stay

Dull side

My Cricut also came with instructions on how to use the Iron on Vinyl. They said to have your iron on the Cotton/Linen settings and to preheat the area you are planning on placing your vinyl by taking the iron over that area. They also recommend you use a towel or something to put over the plastic before you iron it and then iron on the towel so it will protect your material. Do NOT use steam either. Also they recommend flipping your shirt or whatever your ironing onto over and iron the backside of the material. Once it's cooled gently peel the clear plastic liner off and it should leave your image on the material.

The truth is, this is probably the 2nd time we have used our iron EVER.  I'll probably be the only one using it for my shirts I design. I still have lots to learn and need practice on using Iron on vinyl but I love doing it! It's addicting so beware crafters! Your going to want to put vinyl on everything!

Before I Ironed it on

Hope this helped and I look forward to showing you all more of the items I do. I'm planning on doing shirts for my mom, grandma and I to wear when we go to garage sales. Have a splendid crafty time!