How To Make Your Own Shirts At Home – Products marked with an asterisk (*) are provided for review. All other items were purchased with my own money. Affiliate links are used in this post, which means I make a commission if a purchase is made after clicking on the link at no additional cost to you. All opinions expressed are my honest thoughts. I value your trust and only partner with brands I love!
A few months ago, I shared how to make DIY gifts for moms with the Cricut Joy – including DIY Mama’s Girl shirts for kids and babies, and since then, I’ve been a Cricut addict! Some of my favorite Cricut projects are DIY cards for all occasions (literally in minutes), DIY floral coasters, and of course, custom t-shirts. Today I’m showing you how to make a custom t-shirt with an easy Cricut Joy and EasyPress2 tutorial, and you’ll be amazed at how fun it is to make t-shirts for your family at home!
How To Make Your Own Shirts At Home
Cricut Joy *: This handy little machine is about the size of a sneaker, but packs a big punch. With a free coordinating computer or phone app, you can create the craft projects of your dreams. You can create your own design like me, or you can use one of thousands of easy templates! I pay a monthly membership to get access to more templates, and it’s awesome! Click to buy the Cricut Joy at Cricut, Target, Walmart, and Amazon.
Design A Custom T Shirt And Get It Printed In Just A Few Easy Steps
Cricut Easy Press 2*: This heat press machine is a lifesaver if you are interested in making custom t-shirts or any custom craft! I’ve used Easy Press to make everything from these adorable t-shirts with my kids’ names to DIY flower coasters, custom tote bags, DIY pillows with quotes, and more!
Unlike regular irons, it is very easy and safe to use the Cricut Easy Press to create crafts. It has a built-in timer, and you can easily adjust the temperature to be perfect for the exact job. It comes in four sizes that best suit the job you want. I personally have the 9×9 and love it, but the mini version is next on my must-buy list because it would be perfect for small things like hats, shoes, and more! Click to buy the Cricut Easy Press 2 at Cricut, Target, Walmart, and Amazon.
Cricut Easy Press Mat* (optional): The Cricut Easy Press comes with an amazing heat-resistant stand, but I recommend you also have a heat-resistant pad to put underneath your items. The heat resistant mat will protect the surface you are working on from the high heat of the iron, and will also give you the best results for your project.
You can also use something like an ironing board or a mini ironing board if you already have one, but I like the convenience of having this small mat that I can easily store with the machine and move around the home because we have limited storage space. At the end of the day, it’s nice to have but it’s not mandatory! Click to buy the Cricut Easy Press Mat at Cricut, Target, Walmart, and Amazon.
T Shirt Design Maker
Cricut Joy Smart Iron-On*: This material makes the process easy. You just cut out the design you want on the Cricut Joy, and you can use EasyPress or iron this product directly onto a t-shirt (or other surface)! As you can see in the photo above, I used two patterns from the Sunset Blossom pack for this project (available from Cricut and Amazon), but you can use any color or pattern you like! The smart iron material comes in a variety of colors, patterns, and even holographic and glitter varieties. Click to buy the Cricut Joy Smart Iron-On at Cricut, Amazon, Target, and Walmart.
Blank T-shirts in your desired color/size: These are T-shirts and onesies for women, men, kids, and toddlers. I also love these plain baby onesies! I recommend choosing soft fabrics and avoiding ribbed or textured fabrics for best results.
Scissors: Explain yourself haha! You may want/need to trim off any excess unused Cricut Joy Smart Iron-On material before applying it to the shirt. It just depends on your design.
Cricut Weeding Tool *: I will show you a photo of the weeding in just a few seconds, but after the design has been printed on the material, you will peel the excess material away leaving only the design. If you have an intricate design or letterpress, there will be some small pieces of material left behind that are too small to hold with your fingers without ruining the design. The Cricut Weeding Tool usually looks like a dental tool, but it has a small, sharp edge that holds small pieces like a charm and is easy to pull out.
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I have this Cricut Tool Set * which includes a weeder and another must have Cricut Tool, but you can also buy the Cricut Weeding Tool on its own. Click to buy weeding tools at Cricut, Target, Walmart, and Amazon.
Step 1: Use the Cricut Joy software on your phone or computer to create the design you want. There are tons of awesome templates ready to use if you don’t want to design your own. For this particular project, I simply chose a font that I liked and moved my children’s names around until they fit on the page correctly.
Note: I wasn’t particularly concerned with spacing for this project because I knew I’d be using different patterns for different words, which meant I’d have to cut and adjust them manually. With that said, there are many templates that are simply printed and ironed without having to manually align them. Learn more about this free software in this post.
Step 2: Once the design is complete, you simply follow the Cricut Joy instructions. The application or computer software will ask you to put in the desired paper, and then it will do the rest of the work for you!
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Step 3: Once your design is printed on the Cricut Joy Smart Iron-On material, it’s time to remove the excess material.
Step 4: Next you will want to use the Cricut weeding tool to remove small bits of material left behind.
Step 5: Now it’s time to have fun! This step requires preparing the finished design to fit the shirt. With most designs, you’ll go straight to the t-shirt. With this particular project, I printed my children’s first names on one design and middle names on the other, so I had to cut out each name before moving on to the next step.
Use the Cricut app or website to find the correct heat setting for your project. It will also tell you the amount of pressure to use, and the right time to heat press for the item you are going to set. Just enter the correct settings in your Cricut EasyPress 2.
Block Printing T Shirts With A Linocut — Linocut Artist
Now it’s time to prepare whatever items you’re going to arrange. After the Cricut EasyPress has preheated, place the item on top of a smooth, heat-resistant pad or ironing board. Then use the Cricut EasyPress2 to pre-heat the shirt fabric. Simply apply light pressure to your item for about 5 seconds to pre-heat the fabric and remove wrinkles. Repeat as necessary to make sure the item is smooth and warm to the touch before moving on to the next step.
Set the timer on the Cricut EasyPress 2 to the recommended setting for the project and materials you are using (available on the app and website) and press the EasyPress onto the fabric. Every project has recommended pressure, heat, and time, but for this fabric, I was told to set the temperature to 315 degrees Fahrenheit with light pressure for 30 seconds on each side.
The pressing process is simple. Put the EasyPress on your item, press the timer, apply the recommended pressure, and wait for the time to expire. Place the EasyPress back on the heatproof tray when done.
When you’re done with the first side, it’s time to flip over and reset the timer on your EasyPress.
How To Print A T Shirt: A Step By Step Guide To T Shirt Printing
Next, you’ll just want to repeat the process (if needed) until all the designs you want are ironed onto your item. In my case, I wanted to iron on each row separately because they were made of different designs, and I wanted to make sure they were ironed in a perfectly straight line.
Once your design is defined on your item, you’ll want to cut one small corner of the clear design backing to make sure the fabric is finished. If ANY design starts to appear, immediately stop peeling and press back into the design. Repeat the pressing process again and check again before trying again. Once the backing is completely peeled off, you’re good to go!
And that’s it! It’s really that simple, and that’s it
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