Hey, I’m Michael – And this is Mr Crafty Pants your crafting and Cricut channel Today. I am so excited you guys, because I have been wanting to do this tutorial for far too long. Now I am teaching you how to do HTV, aka heat transfer, vinyl, aka, iron-on or iron-on vinyl
There are so many different names for this, but it’s all the same thing Now. As far as I’m aware, Cricut is the only brand that markets there’s as iron-on vinyl. I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure every other company markets there’s as HTV or as heat transfer, vinyl Now to get started. You guys This is all the materials that I will be using today.
I’M going to be using my Cricut Maker for this project, just because it’s already sitting out here on the counter. I could do this just as easily with my Cricut Explore Air 2 and you could really use any kind of die, cutting machine that you already have. As long as it allows you to mirror your image with it.I’m, also going to be using my EasyPress 2 as well as the mat parchment paper, cutting mat for your vinyl, Obviously I’m going to need some iron-on vinyl. I am using the Cricut Everyday Iron-On brand of vinyl for this
For demonstration purposes, I am going to be using a regular blank tea towel. I picked this up at Walmart, but you can take what I’m teaching you today and apply it to almost any type of fabric Yeah. There will be a couple of different heat settings that you’ll have to tweak, but we’ll get to that more in just a little bit.And you’re also going to need some weeding tools, some scissors and some measuring tape, And last but not least, a computer or an iPad That you can use to operate your die, cutting machine
So that really covers everything that we’re going to need for this project. So let’s get crafty All right, So I just pulled up Cricut Design Space And now I’m just going to upload the image that I’m planning on using for the tea towel.
So what I’m doing is coming over here to the left-hand side of the screen and clicking upload from there, I’m going to click on upload image and then I’m going to click on browse From there. I’M going to select my file, which is the this, is our happy place, file.So now for image type. So since I uploaded a PNG file instead of an SVG file, it’s asking me what type of image that I’m uploading. If it’s simple, if it’s moderately complex or if it’s complex,
As a rule of thumb, I typically always pick complex, despite how simple the image really is, And it’s always worked out perfectly for me.So. If it’s not broken, why fix it? So I’m picking complex Right here, it’s going to ask us to select and erase any parts of the image that we don’t want to be a part of our final project.
Since this is a PNG file – and I created this with a transparent background – There’s nothing to erase So I’m going to come down here to the bottom right and click continue All right. So now it’s asking if we want this to be a print, then cut image where we will literally print out this image and then Cricut will cut it out for us.
Or if it’s just going to be a cut image, where there’s nothing to print out we’re just going to cut it straight out onto vinyl.And for this image, there’s really no reason to print anything out. So what I’m going to do is save it as a cut image by selecting this right-hand option. Also, I’m going to add in some tags real quick, I’m just going to type in happy place and then click save at the bottom right-hand side of the screen.
So, as you can see, our image was uploaded. So now what I want to do is insert it onto our canvas, So I’m gon na click on it And then at the bottom right-hand corner, I’m going to click, insert images All right.
So there it is on our canvas, There’s really nothing left to do to it other than resize it for our tea towel. So let’s get the measurements of our tea towel real quick. So we know what we’re working with All right. So I like to fold my tea towels into thirds, which typically looks something a little like this
I’M folding it once folding it twice, and then the third side is the side that everybody would see.For me to know an accurate measurement of what I have to work. With on the front, I like to measure the width of the tea towel when it’s completely unfolded, And it looks like we have 18 inches wide on this All right.
So that means that each section that I want folded is going to be six inches. I’M just gon na go ahead and fold. It once Take a quick guess at what six inches may look like.All right. So it looks like we need to scoot over a little bit more
All right So that first fold measures out to be six inches perfectly on the measuring tape, which means that this next section should be six inches as well. So this is what it will look like if it’s hanging on your oven handle or your dishwasher handle or wherever you like to hang your tea towels at So now that we know that measurement. We can now go into Cricut Design, Space and resize our image so that it’s going to fit perfectly on our tea. Towel.Our image is already selected.
So what we want to do now is come to the top of the screen where it says size and next to the big W for width. You want to highlight the numbers that are currently in there and delete those out All right. So, since the front of our tea towel, or at least the front of our tea towel, that will be visible, since that is six inches wide. What we want to do is make sure that the image that we’re putting on here we want to make sure that it’s not too big or too small.If. It’S too big. It’S going to take up way too much room and look too busy or crowded. If it’s too small, it’s just going to look weird and awkward and out of place.
So we don’t want either of those. So what we want to do is leave a little bit of space on each side of our image on our tea towel. So I’m making my image five inches wide and I think that’ll fit perfectly on this tea towel. So under size and next to width, I’m going to type in five and hit enter.So Cricut automatically resized our height to keep the same proportions as our width.
So all we need to do now is come up here to the top right-hand corner of the screen and click to make it All right. So now I’m going to load some vinyl onto our mat and get to cutting. Is there really anything better than a brand new roll of vinyl? I don’t think so.
All right, So something that’s really important to remember with this type of vinyl is that the shiny side always goes facing down. We always want this matte side facing upwards All right, So this part is absolutely crucial to the success of your project.
You want to make sure that this mirror option over here, on the left hand, side that that is selected. That is automatically mirroring everything. That’S on your mat. Basically, it’s going to be one huge flop. If you do not click this one button, All right So once you do that, you can come over here to the bottom, right-hand corner and click on continue.
So now it’s asking us what type of material that we’re using – And I am using this Everyday Iron-On Vinyl right here And, as you can see, Cricut is reminding you right here to make sure that mirror is turned on and that iron-on material is face down or Shiny side down onto the mat So check and check We’re good
All right So now I’m going to slide this right on in to the point that it stops And if you’re on a Cricut machine, you should see this flashing arrow button right over here. On the right hand, side just click on that.It’s, gon na load, our mat for us, And then once you see this flashing Cricut button right over here, you just tap that
All right, So now that our Cricut is finished cutting we can now tap this flashing arrow button again and it will unload our mat for us All right. So when it comes to getting your vinyl off of your mat, what I like to do is to remove my mat from my vinyl instead of my vinyl from my mat, if that makes any sense whatsoever, What I’m doing is gon na flip over my mat grab A little piece of the vinyl, that’s sticking down just like that.
And then slowly pull my mat away from my vinyl All right. So one of the little tricks that I like to use while weeding is I like to pull off two strips of painter’s tape. I like to roll them, just like so sticky, side out and put them both down right here onto my working space. There we go
I like to put one of them just front and center.And, then the other one just a little bit off to my right-hand side, just cause, I’m right-handed And I’ll show you why here in just a second All right So now, I’m going to put my vinyl still Shiny side down onto my tape,
So what this little trick does for me at least, is it just helps, keep everything into place while I’m weeding – And I don’t have to worry about the vinyl trying to curl up on me, while I’m trying to weed it To me, it just makes it a Heck of a lot easier, All right, So what you’re going to do is stick your weeding tool down into one of the corners and start peeling back
So there is the transfer tape and as you’re starting to peel this back you’re wanting to hold that transfer tape down onto the table And once you get it, peeled back a little ways go ahead and just grab it with your hand, And I would really just Take your time with this, The last thing that you want to do is try to hurry this along too much and end up ruining your design, All right,
So now, what I’m doing is just going in here and weeding out these little sections that are caught in the middle of letters. And, in that second piece of painters, tape that I was telling you about.I like to use that just to get all that extra vinyl off of my weeding tool. It also helps to keep your working area much cleaner. That way. All right,
Isn’T that so cute, you guys, I cannot wait to put this on our tea towel, But first, let’s get our EasyPress set up with the right heat settings So to find the best heat press settings for our tea towel. What I want to do is just Google Cricut easy press settings.And. It should be the first search return.
So I’m just going to click on this right here. This is from Cricut‘s official website and it’s just a super handy tool to get the exact settings you’re going to need. So what I’m going to do is make sure that this Cricut EasyPress 2 is selected. I’M going to select the heat transfer material, which is the Everyday Iron-On. This first option right here And for the base material. It’S going to be a cotton polyblend, which is right there
All right So now it’s asking if I’m using a Cricut, EasyPress mat or if I’m using a rolled up towel, which I am using the EasyPress mat and then I’m just gon na click apply All right. So our heat setting is 315 degrees, Fahrenheit for 30 seconds light pressure and we’re going to do a warm peel. So I already had this turned on and it’s already heated up to 300 degrees.
So what I’m going to do is come in here and select this temperature option And now, since it’s flashing, I’m going to come in here and turn it up to 315 degrees, Then we’ll hit that temperature button again And what it’s doing now is just raising the Temperature to 315 degrees, All right,
So now I’m gon na apply my tea towel to the EasyPress mat. It did say to preheat for five seconds. What I’m going to do, though, is just kind of get these wrinkles out beforehand, though, So it’s going to preheat it for a little bit longer than five seconds, but that should be fine, All right,
So now, you’re going to take your decal, apply it right over top of the tea towel, exactly where you want it to be, Go ahead and grab your parchment paper Apply it over top of your tea towel Place your EasyPress 2. Over top of the parchment paper, making sure that it’s all lined up and then click the green Cricut button, And with this you’re supposed to just apply a light pressure.
It is important, though, to not move around the EasyPress All right, So there we go And it did say to do a warm peel. So what I’m doing is just waiting for this to cool off just a little bit.
, And here she is, I absolutely love how this turned out. It’S super cute, It’s super, quick and best of all is it’s super super easy to do.Now. If you’re wanting to make a tea towel like this, which you totally should check out. My blog right now at mrcraftypants
Com, because there is a free download of this exact image on there just for you, The direct link is in the description below Now. Of course, these tea towels are for decoration purposes only, And I really do not recommend washing these if at all possible. Now with that being said, if a major mess happens and you absolutely have to wash it, then I would recommend washing it in cold water on a light cycle and then letting it air dry.
Now, if you have any questions at all on how to make this, please let me know in the comment section below and I’ll be sure to reply to you directly.Now. If you have yet to join this crazy, crafting and Cricut community, I would love it if you decided to stamp that subscribe button and then ring that bell, ( ding ) for all the notifications. Also, if you found this video helpful at all, please consider stamping that thumbs up button. That really helps me out more than you could ever realize. Now, if you’re feeling social, I would love it. If you gave me a follow on Instagram on Tik Tok or on Pinterest
All of them are linked below. Thank you, so so so much for watching today’s video. I am so grateful for each and every one of you And until next time, Stay crafty,
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