Vintage 1966

Hello everyone!!

I'm excited to share this fun t-shirt design I created for my husband's 50th birthday at the end of July.

I'm planning a surprise party for him and I thought I'd make him a fun shirt to wear that night.  I saw a similar image on Pinterest so I thought I would try to create a design just like in Silhouette Studio.  

1. Creating the Design:

I found this fun vintage like swirly frame (Flourish Bracket Frames) in the Design Store and it was perfect.

And of course, the vintage style letters called LD Petticoat Black and the distressed look of SNF Cheer Squad helped to create the look I was going for.

Now the heat transfer comes in two sizes - one that is 9" wide and the other is 12" wide.  I only had the 9" wide one on hand so I had to play and alter my design a little bit before cutting it out.

So I first rotated the design 90 degrees.

Then using the knife tool I cut the design in half. (Tip: when cutting a design in half look for the simplest part of the design where it will be easy to line up later on when you iron the design onto 

your material.)

I then flipped both pieces of the design to create a mirrored image. You MUST remember to do this when using heat transfer material.

2. Preparing the Design:

Now I was ready to cut it out!  After the design was cut out in two separate pieces I had to weed out all of the unwanted sections.

Here's a look at what the two weeded pieces looked like when I was done.  

3.  Finishing the Design:

When placing the heat transfer material on your cloth make sure to centre it on a flat surface.  (I actually laid the t-shirt down on the floor first and then placed the heat transfer. This way I could see if it was entered, straight, etc better than when it was on the ironing table.)

the little waves you see on the plastic really aren't there - it's just the angle and glare in which I took the photo

Once you placed the design into place cover it with a cloth. I just use a clean tea towel.

Set your iron to the heat suggested on the heat transfer instructions. I usually set mine to linen (the hottest that my iron will go).  You can hold the iron in place over the design for 4-8 seconds and keep moving it around.  I find that patience is a HUGE challenge for me when I work with this product!! I'm just so eager to see the end result that I get excited and want to see if it's ready yet. 

When you think the heat transfer material has been transferred onto the fabric carefully begin peeling away the plastic layer.  I suggest doing this slowly as sometimes the heat transfer isn't always on the fabric and you will need to keep ironing until it has completely adhered to the fabric.  

If you take it off too quickly you can tear the heat transfer or even make it wrinkly and lose the shape of the design. Trust me ... it's VERY disappointing when this happens.  I speak from experience!

When I had finished ironing on the first top section I then lined up the bottom piece making sure that the edges of the design matched up perfectly!

Then with great anticipation I lifted off the tea towel and saw the amazing design! 

Here's a couple close-up shots!

I'm so excited to give it to my husband and, of course, throw him a surprise party!! I'm really hoping he doesn't figure it out before then! So please remember ... shh!!!!!!

Designs used:

Flourish Frames

LD Petticoat Black

SNF Cheer Squad

Flourish Set

Star