In today’s post, you’ll learn how to easily and quickly make a custom Mother’s Day tee shirt. This is a fun project for a truly unique gift for Mother’s Day. The free SVG files are in my Resource Library. You can get the password for the library by filling out the form at the bottom of this post.
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Here is the step by step tutorial for this easy and fun project for Mom.
Here’s What You’ll Need
- A tee shirt
- A design. You can use the free files I created in the Resource Library.
- Heat transfer vinyl (HTV) I used the green from this pack.
- A way to cut your vinyl. I used the amazing Silhouette CAMEO but you can use Cricut Maker or any other machine that accepts SVG files like Brother ScanNCut
- An iron or heat press. This is the heat press I use.
How to make custom Mother’s Day Tees
Making custom gifts and tees has never been such fun! I wanted to make Mother’s Day tees for two special women in my life. But their tastes are wildly different. I think I managed to make each of them happy, however.
Heat transfer vinyl (HTV) is hands-down my favorite way to personalize gifts for friends. I mean, who doesn’t love a fun new t-shirt? And with a cutting machine like Silhouette CAMEO, Cricut, Sure Cuts A Lot, etc , you can easily customize it to be something personal that they will love. But iron on vinyl is not only good for t-shirts! You can use it on tote bags, leather notebooks, shoes, and even wood!
Let’s get started and I’ll show you how to make cute Mother’s Day tees!
First, grab a tee.
The usual craft stores have nice quality tees for a decent price. Plus, you know, the COUPONS!
Next, select your design.
You can download the files I made. Or make your own. ‘Cause not every Mom has a child named Declan, right? Don’t forget you can add several names, not just one!
Here’s how to design your own.
Open Silhouette Studio. In a new document, type your text. For “MOM” I used the Superclarendon font. It’s a basic font and should already be in your font list.
For the child’s name, I used the font “MF I Love Glitter.” It’s the cutest ever! I’ve been wanting to make something with it since I got it and so I’m super happy with this design! You can get it by clicking here if you like it.
Glyph, glyph, baby
To get that adorable little heart at each end, you’ll need to access the “glyph” panel. Glyphs are the extra characters that are available in some fonts. Type your text as usual. Move your cursor to where you want the heart. Then click on the middle “A” in the text panel. You’ll see that it even says “Glyphs” in the drop down menu. Scroll down to find the heart and click on it. There’s also a filled in heart in the glyphs, if you prefer. I added a heart at each end of the name. If you want several names on your tee, just add a heart between each name.
Resize the child’s name.
You’ll want the name(s) to stretch all the way across the word MOM. If you have several names, just use two or more rows of names.
See how the name stretches the entire length of the word “MOM.”
Size to fit your tee.
Select all elements of your design and resize it to fit your tee. Just select all elements, right click on it and then use the handles in the corners to scale it down to the size you want.
Mirror Your Image
The reason that you need to mirror your design when working with heat transfer or iron on vinyl, you cut the design on the back side of the vinyl. HTV has a clear plastic carrier sheet that covers the top of the vinyl, and the other side is where the heat-sensitive adhesive is (although it is not sticky or tacky to the touch). You cut your design on the adhesive side, and then the clear plastic sheet on the other side holds your design in place until it is applied to your shirt or other surface, much like transfer tape with regular vinyl.
So, to make sure our design looks right when it is applied to the final surface, we need to first mirror or flip the design before cutting. It only sounds confusing until you do it once or twice, I promise. Once you’ve done it, it makes perfect sense.
To mirror the design in Silhouette Studio, click on the object to select it. Then, choose the Mirror option from the Object drop down menu and then select Flip Horizontally.
That’s it! Your design is now scaled and mirrored and all ready to cut.
Next, load your vinyl.
Load your HTV vinyl into your CAMEO. Remember to place it shiny side down. As you can see in the photo below, the green shiny side (right side) is facing down on the mat. You are cutting on back side of the vinyl where the heat-sensitive adhesive is. This side will be more matte. The glossy side of the vinyl is the side with the clear plastic backing.
Finally, adjust your cut settings to work with the material you are using.
This process will be a little bit different for every cutting machine, but just make sure to choose the settings for the particular type of heat transfer vinyl you are using (flocked HTV will have very different settings from smooth HTV, for instance). Working with my Silhouette, I selected Heat Transfer Material, Smooth from the Materials menu.
Cut and Apply the MOM
Cut the MOM HTV and weed it.
Using an iron or heat press (this is the one I use and love!), apply the MOM part only.
Remove the carrier sheet from the MOM and now apply the “declan” HTV with the heat press/iron.
And now, the other Special Mom in my life wants a Mother’s Day tee also.
She’s a HUGE Harry Potter fan, so I thought she’d like this one.
If you know a Potter fan, you can download this file from my Resource Library.
I used the “Harry P” font, free for download at dafont.com.
So, are you ready to do this?
I’d love to see the Mother’s Day tee shirts you make! Give it a try – it really is soooo easy and fun! Please post your photos of your finished project in the comments below or on Facebook by clicking here by clicking here.
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