{October Spooktacular} Mommy's Little Monster

I meant for this to post yesterday, but when I went to edit the photos they were all awful. That’ll teach me to photograph products in a different spot than I usually do. So, I thought, I’ll just take new ones… except they were in to be laundered since they had marker all over them. Ugh. So, I had to wash them before I photographed them, but, finally, here they are!

My kids love shirts that mommy makes them. The Superhero Shirts will be making another reappearance this Christmas, since Big J didn’t get any last year and Little J has outgrown his. You can only imagine the cries of unfairness that Big J didn’t get to be a superhero too. So, when I got a request for a new shirt, I new it would actually be two new shirts. A big one and a little one.

My dilemna was this: I hate seasonal/holiday specific clothing. Because we will be wearing long sleeves until March or April. I can’t afford to have clothing with the lifespan of a month! So, I needed something that wasn’t necessarily “Halloween” but still fit into October well. I’m pretty happy with the end results. And it only took half a day for both boys to color on their new shirts with dry erase markers. Guess I was asking for that one… This is more of an idea than a full tutorial. If you want step-by-step directions, visit the Superhero Shirts post. I present Mommy’s Little Monsters.

MOMMY’S LITTLE MONSTER

DIY HEAT TRANSFER VINYL SHIRTS

Materials:

– Heat Transfer Vinyl in your choice of colors. I get all my HT Vinyl from Expressions Vinyl. That’s not an affiliate link, I just personally recommend them.

– Cutting Machine or scissors. Obviously a cutting machine will be more precise and detailed, but this is totally doable with scissors too.

– Iron and a firm surface to press on. My ironing board isn’t steady enough to get a good press, so all my shirts get pressed on the counter top with a towel folded underneath to protect it.

Directions:

– Design your monster either in your cutter’s software or by hand. Make sure the design will fit on your shirt.

– Cut out the design. Make sure you put the shiny side of the vinyl DOWN and REVERSE THE IMAGE if you’re using a cutting machine. Otherwise your image will be backwards. Don’t even ask how much vinyl I’ve wasted in forgetting that crucial step.

– Heat your iron to the hottest setting your fabric can handle. Make sure you use a DRY HEAT. Zero steam. It’ll warp your vinyl and not stick right. And make a mess of your iron.

– Peel all the extra vinyl off. All the background space, the inside of the monster’s mouth, the polka dots, insides of letters should come off.

– I usually press with a piece of parchment paper over the top of the plastic, just in case. You could use anything though. An old rag, a paper towel, etc. Just make sure it’s not too thick or the vinyl won’t get hot enough to seal to your shirt.

– Use the hot iron and press each part of the vinyl for at least 20 seconds with firm pressure. I often have my husband press for me because that much pressure for that long flares up an old wrist injury.

– You can peel the plastic off while it’s still hot, but it sticks better if you let it cool. Go slowly and make sure all the vinyl is adhered. If you find a loose spot, just press again.

That’s it. Enjoy your super cool, personalized new shirts. And prepare for the havoc that seems inevitable from children wearing a shirt that labels them a monster…