Silhouette Heat Transfer Tutorial

Silhouette Heat Transfer Tutorial

I recently shared a tutorial for Silhouette Fabric Interfacing which is great for creating fabric appliqués.

silhouette fabric interfacing tutorial

Silhouette’s heat transfer material is another great option, especially when you don’t want to sew around a larger design or a lot of lettering. As a member of the Silhouette affiliate program, I had the opportunity to try the Silhouette Heat Transfer Starter Kit. I was not paid to share this tutorial but did receive the starter kit and receive a small percentage of sales generated from this month’s Silhouette Sale when readers use code “SHOWOFF” at checkout at Silhouette America. Promotion ends June 15th.  Here are this month’s awesome deals:

Silhouette June Promo

If you’re a DIY Show Off social media fan, you may know that last year my mom battled breast cancer (doing great!) and just recently my younger sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is so brave and keeping a positive spirit. I’ve purchased her several fun t-shirts with sayings like “I pay my oncologist big bucks for this hair style.”, “Does this shirt make me look bald?” and “Save the Hooters.” She has a great sense of humor and is very social. She has a close group of friends who’ve nicknamed her “princess”. She also has an amazing sweet heart and her big concern right now is how others are affected by her diagnosis. So, I decided a “Keep Calm. Princess always lives happily ever after.” t-shirt would send a reassuring message to her social group. 

heat transfer starter kit

The Silhouette Heat Transfer Starter Kit comes with:

  • 3 sheets of smooth heat transfer material (9 in x 12 in of black, teal, dark pink)
  • 2 sheets of flocked heat transfer material (9 in x 12 in of white and yellow)
  • Silhouette hook
  • exclusive download card good for 10 heat transfer designs
  • idea booklet and instruction guide
  • instructional DVD

Silhouette Heat Transfer Tutorial

Tutorial: 

1. Download the heat transfer designs from the Silhouette online store. (I chose a design I already had on hand instead but love that bicycle!)

silhouette heat transfer shapes

2. Create design in the Silhouette Studio. 

silhouette studio keep calm princess

3. Right click on each individual element of the design and click “FLIP HORIZONTALLY” to create a mirror image. 

silhouette studio mirror

4. Send to cut. Choose Silhouette Heat Transfer (flocked or smooth…I used smooth).

silhouette heat transfer cut

5. Load paper shiny side down and adjust blade setting as recommended (2).

loading heat transfer paper

6. Cut and unload. 

7. Remove negative heat transfer. 

removing negative heat transfer

8. IMPORTANT: This is tricky with intricate designs and lettering. Be sure you’re in a well lit area so you can see the cut lines and utilize the Silhouette hook to remove small pieces of negative area when necessary. GO SLOW! 

I did remove some of what I shouldn’t have and had to improvise…let’s not dwell on my imperfections. If you have the extra materials, you may want to do a “practice run” before your true project, especially if it’s your first time and if you’re creating a gift. 

7. One side will be sticky with a backwards design. The other side is shiny and readable. 

8. Place heat transfer/transparency sticky side down onto shirt or tote or dish towel.

keep calm silhouette heat transfer

9. Iron using a towel or scrap fabric between the transparency and iron according to directions. 

ironing silhouette heat transfer

10. Slowly remove sticky/shiny transparency. (If some of the design is still stuck to the transparency, replace and iron again.)

silhouette heat transferring

Ta-da!

silhouette heat transfer starter kit

Imperfections and all, I think she’s going to like it! 

breast cancer tshirt

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED.  WINNER is Rachael from My Disorganized Life

How about a chance to win a Silhouette Portrait?

Silhouette Portrait giveaway

I excited to offer an opportunity to give one lucky DIY Show Off reader a Silhouette Portrait machine. Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below. Giveaway starts now and ends Sunday, June 9th. Winner will be chosen randomly and announced shortly after. Open to US residents only. Lots of chances to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Need more info? Check out these helpful YouTube videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvpSG7DqdAY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA7jgv8BA-w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwuItoS5ZXY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYDCiH2HlMg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB2vHZoVvRE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVKuAIL9-pc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fGXW_8BbGQ

This project is sponsored by Silhouette America, who provided the heat transfer kit in exchange for a tutorial. Experience and opinions are my own. Sales generated from this post using code “showoff” earn me a small percentage of sales (thank you!) and Silhouette is providing a Silhouette Portrait to one lucky DIYShowOff reader (good luck!). Prize includes a Silhouette Portrait only and ships directly from Silhouette America. Other Silhouette materials are the responsibility of the winner.

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