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Using heat transfer vinyl is one of the best parts about owning a Cricut! This beginner friendly tutorial will show you how to use heat transfer vinyl with your Cricut Explore or Cricut Maker to make some amazing shirts. Plus, you can grab the mermaid SVG I used for FREE!
My mom is currently a nanny to a wonderful 8 year old girl who loves all things magical and cute.
I wanted to make her a cute gift that she would love, so I decided to draw her a mermaid and put it on a shirt.
After recently posting my tutorial on using Heat Transfer Foil, I wanted to go back to basics and do a tutorial on using regular Heat Transfer Vinyl.
So I decided to just combine the two projects!
I’m in love with how it turned out and more importantly, she was too!
Making shirts is with HTV is one of the number one projects that people use a Cricut for – and with good reason! Shirts are a great gift, plus they make for a great side hustle if you want some extra cash.
The lovely folks over at Happy Crafters were kind enough to send me some Siser EasyWeed vinyl for this project, however my opinions about this product are my own. I even used some of the same brand of vinyl from my own personal stash!
I tried to be very in depth and beginner friendly with this tutorial as possible. I have included instructions for using a Heat Press, the Cricut Easy Press, and a regular household iron.
- Cricut Explore or Cricut Maker
- Scissors
- Weeding tools
- Cricut StandardGrip Cutting Mat
- HTV – I used Siser Easy Weed from Happy Crafters
- T-shirt
- SVG File
- Heat Press, Cricut Easy Press, or Household Iron
- Pillowcase, Tea Towel, or Teflon Sheet
- Optional: Tracing Light Box
How to Make HTV Shirts with your Cricut
1. Uploading Your SVG
First, you’ll want to upload your SVG file into Cricut Design Space. If you’re not sure how to do this, check out my post How to Use an SVG File in Cricut Design Space.
You can find SVG files in a variety of places, such as Cricut Design Space, Design Bundles, Creative Fabrica, SoFontsy, and The Hungry JPEG.
Most only cost a couple dollars, and you can find great deals on bundles with tons of them included. Many places also offer some for free!
For this tutorial, I’ll be using my hand drawn mermaid SVG which you can download for free!
You can check out the rest of my free SVG files on my freebies page!
2. Resizing and Using Templates
After uploading the file, you’ll want to resize it. You can do this by clicking on the image and dragging the arrows on the bottom corner, or by typing in exact measurements at the top.
If you’re not sure what size to make your image, Cricut has a handy template feature.
Just click the template button, then click on the template that matches your project.
The template should show up on your canvas. You don’t have to worry about cutting out the template. It’s only here to help you figure out the size of your file.
This is easy to remember for shirts, but if you’re making banners it can be easy to forget!
You can change the size and color of your template in the top left.
Be warned though, I’ve found that some templates, namely the kids and toddler sizes, are WAY off.
You can enter in custom dimensions for the templates, but make sure that you multiply the width of your shirt by 2, because the template counts the front and back of the shirt as one image.
For this project, I used the Classic T-shirt in a Women’s extra small. I have found this particular template to be quite accurate!
After I add the template, I make sure that my design will match the color of the shirt.
I also check the placement and size. In general, the design on an HTV shirt should start 2-3 inches below the collar.
I made my mermaid about 7.5 by 9.5, and I was quite happy with this size.
When you’re happy with your design, click ‘Make It’ in the top right corner.
3. Mirror and Cut
The next screen will show your design separated onto mats.
Make sure to set the dial on your machine to the recommended settings for your vinyl.
For my Siser Easyweed, I set the dial on my Cricut to ‘Iron On’.
You’ll also want to use the correct blade. Most often, this will be the fine point cutting blade.
Once you’ve got your settings dialed in, you can start cutting out your vinyl.
To cut, place the color of vinyl that Design Space tells you to cut on your Cricut cutting mat.
Place the vinyl on the mat starting in the top left corner. Lower it slowly onto the mat.
Be sure to smooth out any air bubbles or creases.
Line the mat up with the roller of the Cricut, and press the arrow button on the machine. The front roller on the Cricut should rotate slightly and grab onto your mat. Make sure it grabs onto both sides.
Then, just press the blinking Cricut logo, and watch as your Cricut works its magic!
4. Weeding your Vinyl
When you remove the excess vinyl from your design, this is called ‘weeding’. The difficulty of weeding depends on the intricacy of your design, as well as the quality of vinyl being used.
There are many brands of vinyl that weed very poorly, and they can make getting a clean and polished final product very difficult.
On the other hand, quality vinyl can make even a complex design MUCH easier to weed. More importantly, a quality vinyl will have much better staying power on your project.
For this project, I used Siser Easyweed Vinyl. This is my absolute favorite kind of HTV. It comes in loads of colors, and sinks right into your project, almost making it look like it’s been screen printed.
It can be applied with a heat press, Cricut Easy Press, or a regular iron without steam. This stuff is crazy easy to weed, too! I didn’t actually need to use any weeding tools for this project.
However, if you’re using a more complex design, then there’s a good chance you may need some good weeding tools, or at the very least, some tweezers and a credit card.
I would also recommend a light box if your design is particularly complex. It can help you see all the tiny pieces that you might otherwise miss.
- To weed, find an unused corner of the vinyl, and gently peel up. It helps a lot to peel in the direction you want to go instead of peeling straight up.
- Gently peel the excess vinyl away, leaving the cut out design on the plastic cover sheet. Use tools like a weeding hook or tweezers for tiny and hard to reach pieces.
- When you are finished, the only thing that should remain is the design still stuck to the plastic cover sheet.
- Repeat these steps for all the different colors in your project.
- To save on vinyl, after the design has been cut out, I like to gently lift it off the cutting mat and cut around my design. That way I don’t use an entire sheet for a small design.
5. Arrange Everything
This is an optional step, but I highly recommend it.
After I get everything cut out and weeded, I like to arrange all the different pieces on my shirt.
This has saved me multiple times from forgetting pieces, and accidentally ironing things on in the wrong order.
It’s helpful for getting the placement just right, and making 100% sure that everything is cut out in the right size and color.
- Fold your shirt in half horizontally from sleeve to sleeve.
- Then fold it in half again vertically.
- Use your heat press or iron on the shirt for a few seconds.
- When you unfold it, there should be a cross on the shirt, the place where the points meet is the center.
Make sure when you are done checking your placement, you remove these pieces from the shirt before preheating!
6. Preheat Your Shirt
Next, we’re going to preheat the shirt.
This will remove wrinkles and excess moisture in your garment and it will ensure your vinyl will hold better. You may be tempted to skip this step, but I urge you not to!
Make sure to check your shirt’s material content to make sure it can handle high heat.
Using medium pressure, preheat your shirt for 2-3 seconds.
Press your shirt for about 10 seconds, then flip it over and press the backside for 10 seconds.
If your iron has a cotton or linen setting, then that should work just fine.
Flip the shirt over and iron the backside for about 10-15 seconds.
7. Pressing the Vinyl
Different vinyl heats at different times and temperatures.
The instructions below are for Siser Easyweed HTV.
Make sure to check your vinyl manufacturer heat settings before you begin heat pressing, as they may be different than the ones listed here!
If you’re layering vinyl, be careful not to overheat your base layers. Some vinyl, such as glitter vinyl, can only be used as a top layer.
Below are instructions for using a single layer of vinyl, as well as instructions for layering.
Applying Vinyl with a Heat Press Instructions
- Set your heat press temperature to 305° F.
- Lay your base layer on your shirt, sticky side down.
- Lay a teflon sheet or piece of multipurpose paper over the design.
- Use the heat press with medium pressure for 10-15 seconds.
- Remove your cover.
- Peel up plastic backing from vinyl. For Siser Easyweed, this can be done hot or cold.
- Set your heat press temperature to 305° F.
- Lay your base layer on your shirt, sticky side down.
- Lay a teflon sheet or piece of multipurpose paper over the design.
- For your base layer, use the heat press with medium pressure for 1 second. This is called a 1 second tack.
- Remove your cover.
- Peel the plastic backing up while hot.
- Repeat with additional layers.
- After all plastic has been peeled up, cover shirt, and press for 10 seconds.
Applying Vinyl with the Cricut Easy Press Instructions
Make sure to press on a solid and even surface. Avoid pressing over top of metal. Ironing boards are not recommended. I use the Cricut Easy Press Mat.
- Set your heat press temperature to 305° F.
- Lay your base layer on your shirt, sticky side down.
- Lay a teflon sheet, teatowel, or pillowcase over the design.
- Use the heat press with firm pressure for 10-15 seconds.
- Remove your cover.
- Flip shirt over and press backside for 10-15 seconds.
- Peel up plastic backing from vinyl. For Siser Easyweed, this can be done hot or cold. If the vinyl peels up with backing: Press backing down, lay down cover sheet, and press with iron 3-4 more seconds.
- Set your heat press temperature to 305° F.
- Lay your base layer on your shirt, sticky side down.
- Lay a teflon sheet, teatowel, or pillowcase over the design.
- Press the design for about 5 seconds using firm pressure.
- Flip shirt over and press backside for about 5 more seconds.
- Remove your cover.
- Peel up plastic backing from vinyl. For Siser Easyweed, this can be done hot or cold. If the vinyl peels up with backing: Press backing down, lay down cover sheet, and press with iron for 3-4 more seconds.
- Repeat above steps for each layer of vinyl. Try not to leave too many indents in the vinyl with the plastic carrier sheets.
- After peeling all the carrier sheets, cover the design one more time.
- Press for 5-10 more seconds.
Applying Vinyl with Household Iron Instructions
Make sure to press on a solid and even surface. Avoid pressing over top of metal. Ironing boards are not recommended. I use the Cricut Easy Press Mat.
- Set your iron’s heat to cotton or linen.
- Lay your base layer on your shirt, sticky side down.
- Lay a teflon sheet, teatowel, or pillowcase over the design.
- Iron design for 10-15 seconds with firm pressure.
- Remove your cover.
- Flip shirt over and iron backside for 10-15 seconds.
- Peel up plastic backing from vinyl. For Siser Easyweed, this can be done hot or cold. If the vinyl peels up with backing: Press backing down, lay down cover sheet, and press with iron for 3-4 more seconds.
- Set your iron’s heat to cotton or linen.
- Lay your base layer on your shirt, sticky side down.
- Lay a teflon sheet, teatowel, or pillowcase over the design.
- Iron the design for about 5 seconds using firm pressure.
- Flip shirt over and iron backside for about 5 more seconds.
- Remove your cover.
- Peel up plastic backing from vinyl. For Siser Easyweed, this can be done hot or cold. If the vinyl peels up with backing: Press backing down, lay down cover sheet, and press with iron for 3-4 more seconds.
- Repeat above steps for each layer of vinyl. Try not to leave too many indents in the vinyl with the plastic carrier sheets.
- After peeling all the carrier sheets, cover the design one more time.
- Iron for 5-10 more seconds.
After Care
Now that you’ve got an awesome shirt, you want to make sure it lasts as long as possible!
Make sure to check the instructions on your vinyl to see if your shirt requires any special care.
If you used Siser EasyWeed, here’s the aftercare instructions.
- Wait 24 hours before first wash.
- Machine wash warm or cold with a mild detergent.
- Do not bleach or dry clean.
- Dry on a normal dryer setting.
Thanks for reading!
Thanks so much for reading and following along with this tutorial. I hope you found it helpful!
If you’re looking to try out something more advanced and eye-catching, make sure to check out my Heat Transfer Foil Tutorial.
If you want to add some lettering to your next HTV project, I’ve compiled several font lists that might be able to help!
Free Script Fonts I
Free Script Fonts II
Cute Fonts for Crafters
Free Monogram Fonts
If you want more SVG files, make sure to check out my freebies page! I add more free SVG files weekly!
Great article!! I don’t understand the portion on the Cricut t-shirt template. What do you mean by you don’t have to worry about cutting out the template – do I need to hide it when printing?
Also I don’t understand the portion that talks about doubling the size of the t-shirt and what that has to do with my image,
Lastly you state that ironing boards are not recommended. But why is that? Do I have to buy a Cricut pad, or are there other more affordable alternatives? Thanks again!
Hi Tricia!
You don’t have to hide the template while printing. The Cricut will ignore any templates and won’t try to cut them out.
Cricut’s T-shirt templates display the front and back of a shirt side by side. For some of the templates, the sizes are correct. However for other sizes, specifically baby and toddler, the height and width of both t-shirts is the measurement of what ONE t-shirt would be. I would always recommend double checking your actual shirt measurement and comparing it to the cricut template, because some of the measurements are off by half.
If the measurement of the t-shirt is off by half, I would line up your image on the template and make sure it looks good, then double the size of the image before cutting.
I don’t recommend using ironing boards because they contain metal. This can cause hot spots in the garments and can cause it to heat unevenly. I like the Cricut pads because they are the exact size of the easy press, but you can likely get away with using folded up towels!
I hope this helps! 🙂