New to Cricut and using Heat Transfer Vinyl? In today’s Back Home With Brenda, I’m going to take you through the steps of making this adorable T-shirt for that special little one in your life. I’m “Nana” aka Grandma to three beautiful babies and when I make something for one, you bet the other two will be getting one too. Let’s begin with the supplies needed:

• A T-shirt or Onesie that has been washed and dried to remove any sizing residue (this will help the vinyl to adhere better). There are crafters who choose not to do this step.

• A cutting machine (Cricut or other brand)

• Cricut Design Space software or compatible option with cutting machine accessed on your computer.

• The design in an SVG File format (please adhere to copyright laws when using other's creations)

• Heat Transfer Vinyl in color of your choosing

• Mat for use with vinyl

• Ruler or measuring tape

• Iron, Cricut Easy Press, or Professional Heat Press

• Pressing teflon sheet or parchment paper, or pressing cloth

  Hard surface for pressing (heat proof counter top)

Now that we have our supplies, lets get started. Set up your workspace and have your supplies nearby. Your machine should be set up on a table or level surface with room for the mat to pass through from the front to the back of the machine. Plug the power cord into the machine and outlet, then plug the USB cable into the machine and into your computer. There are machines that will work wirelessly, but we are sticking to the basics today.

Open up www.cricutdesignspace.com and make sure you are signed into your account. There are lots of options for creating a design. The easiest is to choose one that is already created for you and contains just one layer. Trust me, it will look great! I have a paid subscription to Cricut Access which gives me access to 100’s of images. If you don’t wish to subscribe, you can pay for an image individually or find free images on the web and import them. Again, just make sure you have permission to use the design and there is usually not a problem unless you plan to sell your finished project.

Once you have chosen your design, you have an option to customize it which will bring it up on the Canvas page. Clicking on the image will activate a box around it and on each corner will be an icon, each with a different function. The red X to delete the image, the curved arrow to rotate the design, the double arrow to enlarge or reduce the size of the design, and the lock to keep the ratio of the design, or to distort the size and shape of the design by clicking the lock icon.

Once you are happy with the design, click on the Save button. Name your project and decide if you want to make it Public or not. Making it public makes it available to other Cricut users. Saving an image, especially if you have added a lot of customizing, will make it easy to reproduce it when you want to make it again. After saving it, you can hit the Make It button. Now you will see the design as it will be cut on the mat. Remember, and this is very important, if you are working with vinyl , it will cut reversed, so if you want to read the words correctly or have your design facing the same way as the pattern, you need to click on the Mirror image option. The image will automatically be in the upper left corner, but if you want to move it to another place on the mat, you can click on it until the box shows around it, then with your mouse, you can move it where you want it to be cut on the mat. Sometimes I just have a small piece of vinyl that fits best in the right hand corner, or down one side, and I can move or rotate the design to fit where my vinyl is placed. There is also a drop down menu for mat size. Make sure you click on the size of the mat you are using. 12 x 12 is pretty standard for most projects.

Grab your all purpose green mat and place your vinyl with the shiny side down onto your mat. The shiny side is called the carrier sheet and you will see how it functions after the design cuts. Smooth down the vinyl making sure there aren’t bubbles using the Cricut scraper tool or roller.

Now hit the Continue button on the bottom right of the screen. If you haven’t connected your machine, make sure it’s connected and you have chosen the the machine in the menu. If the machine is connected, the arrow light on your machine will flash indicating it’s time to load your mat. Make sure it loads straight into the machine by hitting the rollers on both sides at the same time. I usually line them up touching the rollers, then hit the flashing arrow. If not loaded correctly, your design may not cut properly. Just hit the arrow button again and it will unload and you can try again. Once loaded properly, the Cut button will flash and when you hit it, the cutting will begin. If at anytime you see an issue with the cutting, hit the pause button and then unload the material to fix the problem. This may mean replacing your vinyl, and hitting Cancel to “Cancel the cut,” so you can go back a step and cut again. Loading the mat properly and smoothing the vinyl to the cutting mat are crucial to a good cut.

Once the machine has finished cutting, hit the Finish button on the screen and the project will unload. Remove the whole piece of vinyl from the mat, and to save vinyl for another project, you can carefully cut close around the cut design leaving at least a quarter inch space around it.

Now grab that Cricut tool that looks like a dental instrument with the curved hook on it (called a weeding tool). Lay the cut design with the shiny side down just like it was on the mat. You are now going to pick away the part of the design that you do not want. The negative space around the design, the middle space in the letters or whatever you don’t want in the finished product. The words should read reversed. Grab just a corner of the vinyl and start to pull it up with the tool. Once you can, grab the corner of the clear carrier sheet and hold it down with your thumb as you pull away the vinyl you don’t want. If any part of the design you want pulls up, carefully lay it back down and gently pull away the part not needed. As you can see, if the design is cut well, this will be an easy and rewarding step. As designs get more intricate, they will take more time and patience to pull up or “weed” as you become familiar with vinyl project terms. Here’s the Cricut definition found on Design Space instructions:

“Remove negative Cricut Iron-on film, leaving only the desired cut image on the liner (this process is known as weeding). Using the weeding tool found in the Cricut Tool Kit can make this process faster and easier.”

Now that the design has been “weeded” and you have double checked that all the negative spaces have been removed and you haven’t lost a “dot” to any “i’s,” you are ready to place on your shirt.

Lay the shirt on a clean hard surface. If using a Cricut Easy Press or professional heat press, follow directions for your specific press. Position the design with the carrier sheet facing up (the words should read correctly now) and using a ruler, place it where you want it to be centered. On Onesies, I like to make sure the design doesn’t fall below the diaper line, usually an inch or so down from the neckline. Now that you have it positioned, I lift it up again and preheat the shirt using my iron or heat press. While still warm, reposition the design again (practice makes perfect) and once in place, carefully cover with your teflon sheet, or pressing cloth. I have used parchment paper and it has worked fine. Press with your heat press for instructed time based on type of product, or use your iron. I cannot emphasize enough that if using an iron, it needs to be placed on a heat safe solid surface (think granite counter or floor protected with a towel) and you have to press very hard! Put your body weight into it and hold the iron in place for amount of time required for your vinyl brand. Once pressed, peel back the carrier sheet carefully and if any part of your design starts to peel up, lay the carrier sheet back down and press again. A good press will look like the vinyl has become a part of the T-shirt fabric. Cricut makes the Easy Press in three sizes now, so that may be a great option for you.

Once you have completed the project, turn off that iron, or heat press and take a moment to admire what you have created, knowing you did it yourself! What a great feeling! Don’t forget to take a picture and share in the comments. I would love to cheer you on!

Watch for a video tutorial coming soon!