Create Your Own T-Shirt

People love to make things and be creative. One of the many things you can do is create your own t-shirt using iron-on transfers. The process involves a couple of important, but easy steps. 

The first, and logical, step is to determine the theme for your shirt or other design. Whether you’re looking to create something cute for a child, a holiday-themed shirt or something with a phrase, these can all be easily done. 

Collect all the necessary supplies. These include:

• inkjet printer 
• printer ink 
• the design 
• iron-on transfer paper 
• t-shirt or other fabric
• a household iron 

It’s important to carefully pick the iron-on paper as not will work on every type of fabric. There are papers designed for light, white, dark, stretchy and other types of material so choose the right type before starting. 

Each iron on transfer paper also has specific printers on which they will work so be sure to match your printer (laser printer, inkjet printer) to the proper paper. This is so important as using the wrong type of paper can cause problems with the printer. 

The design is the heart of the project. Choose something you love because once it’s been ironed onto your fabric, it can’t be changed. You can choose from a variety of sources to select your artwork. Do a search on Pinterest, pick up a book at a local craft or sewing store or search the web for ideas. You can also use your own photos to create your project. 

Be sure to think carefully about your image before printing it. If the image involves numbers or letters, you’ll need to flip it so the image on your project isn’t backwards when done. You can do this in Photoshop or you can use your printer’s settings to print a mirror image. 

We recommend you print your design on regular paper to review it before printing on iron-on paper. After confirming that you like the way it appears, print using the iron-on transfer paper. When you trim the design, leave about 1/4” border. 

Preheat your iron and set it to the hottest setting making sure you have turned OFF the steam setting as this can damage your design. You can iron on a flat surface such as a workbench or table or you can use your ironing board. Using the ironing board may take a little longer as the heat can be absorbed by the ironing board cover. Iron for approximately 3-4 minutes in an up and down motion, being careful not to press so hard that you shift the design. Peel off the paper, let your project cool and you’re done!