Fun & Festive Heat Transfer Vinyl St. Patrick's Day Shirts

Be ready to wear your green and feel festive this Saint Patrick's Day with some quick & easy DIY Heat Transfer Vinyl St. Patrick's Day shirts.  I've made it even easier by offering the design files for both of them!

There's something for the little (or big) rascals:

And a whimsical search & find themed Shamrock of Shamrocks design.  

Can you find the 4 leaf clover?

As I've mentioned before, I'm a big fan of "holiday" themed wearables that you can still wear well after the actual day is over and these fit the bill for that too.

I kicked it up a notch too by using some specialty types of HTV: my personal favorite type of HTV, flocked, and one I'd never used before, holographic sparkle.  This was an eleventh hr project idea so I had to grab what was available locally at a craft chain store brand rather than order the heat transfer vinyl online, which is what I usually do.  I find the online ones are always more economical and higher quality than the big box stuff.  I wasn't sure how these would turn out so it was a bit of a gamble.

 Now, how to make them!

Materials:

- Heat transfer vinyl.  I used flocked and holographic glitter types from The Paper Studio (Hobby Lobby brand)

- Blank Shirt (unwashed)

- Cutting machine (I used my 6yr old Cricut Explore)

- Heat Press (I used my new HTVRONT Press - see the review HERE) or Iron

- My FREE St. Patricks Day designs below

 

 Here are the FREE designs I whipped up.  Just right click to save each png.  

Using Cricut Design Space I turned my designs into cut files and sized them to fit my 2T & 3T sized shirts (I made them 6 and 7 inches wide, respectively).  

Then mirrored them before cutting:

 It took about a minute each to cut them out.  My real issue was each was the start of a new roll of HTV so they curled something fierce.  Since you cut them face down, the vinyl's bend was going upward, which was a real issue.  Since these specialty types aren't as floppy as smooth HTV, even using a brayer wouldn't smooth them down.  So I did some masking tape along the top edge to keep them flat on the mat, which worked great: 

On the one with lettering, I weeded out the letters,  remembering to leave the center bits of the "e's, a's, o & g".  Then it was press time!!  It's key to check the fabric composition and type of HTV being used to make sure you get the settings right.  I read previously that it's best not to wash the shirts first - having that factory sizing in them helps HTV adhere better.  Some sites say otherwise, but I've found it helps.  

These shirts were both cotton poly blends.  I always press mine on a folded fluffy towel too.

The shirts got a 5 second preheat with the press and then I put the heat transfer vinyl on.  FYI, if you're new to using htv, you leave the carrier sheet on.  Some people even use a Teflon sheet between that & the press, but I've never needed it for the things I've done so far.  For the flocked I used my usual formula of 295F, 30 seconds front/15 seconds on back and peeling when cool, which worked perfectly.  

The holographic glitter was a different story.  The instructions inside the roll listed glitter, foil, shimmer and regular temperatures, but nothing for that particular type.  Searches online were also pretty vague.  Why would you make a product, but not explain how to use it??  

I followed one suggestion to do 330 for 30 seconds/15 seconds and cool peel.  When I started to peel away the carrier, the edges of most of the shamrocks were lifting with it.  I did another 30 seconds on the front and 10 more on the back, but it still was lifting on some.  I raised the temperature to 340 and did 20 seconds and then they seemed to stay.  I find it's usually ok to have to repress when this kind of thing happens, but you have to be careful not to go too long or too hot when re-pressing or it'll melt the htv and then it won't stick at all. 

We'll see when I wash it how well they actually adhered.  This brand seemed more brittle & plastic-y in both types compared to others I've used, so I think the quality of the HTV probably had more to do with it than the type itself.  Which was a bit annoying since it cost almost twice as much as brands found online!  The place my heat press is from, HTVRONT, is having a sale on their HTV right now and you can get rolls that are more than double the length of the stuff I got at the local chain and are STILL cheaper than what I bought!!  You can see for yourself HERE.  I'm going to try some of theirs out soon to see how it compares to the kinds I've already used and share my results when I do.

For HTV clothing care, I wait 24hrs before washing and always wash them inside out, on cold, delicate and line dry to keep the transfers nice.  I've had some shirts like this last for ages by doing all that and since I want my 3yr old's shirt to be wearable for my 2yr old next year, it's worth the extra care.  Now my littlest cuties have some fun attire that was reasonable in time & price for the upcoming holiday - and you can too!