In this post, I will walk you through how to mix two different types of heat transfer vinyl (aka HTV) on one t-shirt.
Specifically, I’ll be combining Siser Glow in the Dark Heat Transfer Vinyl and 3 colors of Siser Glitter Heat Transfer Vinyl to create a cute and fast Halloween t-shirt.
This is a very easy, beginner-friendly project even if you are new to heat transfer vinyl.
Just follow the very straightforward steps below and you should have a fun new t-shirt in under an hour, much less if you don’t count the cutting time.
The video and written tutorial below shows you how to assemble the heat transfer vinyl design on to a t-shirt but if you are interested in seeing the set up steps to cut this HTV project in Cricut Design Space, Brother Canvas Workspace or Silhouette Studio, you can find those videos in my Resource Library. The FREE Halloween Word Collage SVG (and other types) design file used for this project is also in my Resource Library. CLICK HERE to sign up for the password to access the FREE Resource Library. It’s new but growing all the time with new tutorials, free SVG files and more!
Click HERE for the SUPPLY LIST
Check out my How to Layer Heat Transfer Vinyl video here.
Please check out the video tutorial below or scroll down for instructions with photos:
Set Up Your Heat Press Area
I use an EasyPress 2 for my heat transfer vinyl projects. My craft room is pretty small so I don’t have space for a big heat press (I wish!).
So, to set up the space where I’m going to actually do my heat pressing, I layer down a towel, then my Easy Press Mat followed by the t-shirt.
You may not need the towel. I use it as extra protection between the glass top of my craft area and the heat from the EasyPress 2. I do suggest, however, that you have some type of cushiony surface under your t-shirt like the Easy Press Mat or a towel, to provide some give during the heating process. It helps you get good contact between the shirt and the HTV while pressing.
EasyPress 2 Settings for Siser Glow In The Dark Heat Transfer Vinyl
The first layer I’m going to tack down to my shirt is the layer with all of the words on it that I’ve cut out of Siser Glow-In-The-Dark Heat Transfer Vinyl.
To tack it down, I’m setting my EasyPress 2 to 305 degrees. While it heats up, I’m going to prep the t-shirt for the HTV.
Prep the Shirt for Heat Transfer Vinyl
To prep the shirt BEFORE heat pressing it, there are a few things you must do:
- Run a lint roller over the center of the shirt to remove any debris that may have gotten on the fabric. In my case, that’s probably dog hair – lol.
- Heat the area of the shirt where you plan to place the design for 15 – 20 seconds to remove any excess moisture trapped in the material. Excess moisture can interfere with the HTV’s ability to adhere to the shirt. I use my EasyPress 2 while it was in the process of heating up to iron the area for 20 seconds.
- To help with center placement, you can fold the shirt in half by matching up the seams and then iron the center crease in place for about 20 seconds. I skipped that step because I decided to wing it with the ole’ “eyeball” method. But, I did fold the first layer of HTV in half gently and then pinch the backing sheet to create a crease in the middle along the top edge and the bottom edge of the backing sheet. This helps me eyeball the placement when it’s time.
Once those steps are complete, you can move on to adding the vinyl to the shirt. Yay!
Place the Glow In The Dark Layer of Heat Transfer Vinyl on the T-Shirt
As I mentioned earlier, the first layer I am tacking down to the shirt is the Glow-In-The-Dark HTV Layer.
I eyeball the placement of the layer down on to the center of the shirt, about 3 inches down from the collar.
Then, I rub over it lightly to press it in place. The backing sheet is slightly sticky to help it stay in place.
Tack Down the Glow In The Dark Layer of Heat Transfer Vinyl with Your EasyPress 2
Place a Teflon sheet or a piece of parchment paper over the Glow-In-The-Dark layer and then press the fully heated EasyPress 2 on top of it for 2 – 5 seconds only using medium pressure.
I just counted the seconds to myself and then removed the EasyPress 2 from the shirt. If you need to, you can set the counter on the EasyPress 2 to five seconds and use that to count down the time. DO NOT exceed 5 seconds of heating.
Since Siser Glow-In-The-Dark HTV is both a hot and/or cold peel, I peel off the backing sheet from the Glow-In-The-Dark layer right away. I do this pretty slowly to make sure that all the words and letters stick to the shirt (or whatever blank you are using). Success!
If the HTV pulls away from the shirt with the backing sheet, you need to reheat it for another 2 seconds max to get it to stick to the shirt.
Place the Glitter Heat Transfer Vinyl Elements within the Glow In The Dark Word Collage
If you haven’t already, you should trim down the backing sheet around the glitter HTV elements so there isn’t too much of it overlapping the now tacked down words and letters once those elements are in place.
Now place the glitter HTV elements (ghosts, bats, witch, jack o’lantern and skull) in their proper spots within the collage and press them on to the t-shirt.
Modify the EasyPress 2 Settings for Siser Glitter Heat Transfer Vinyl
PLEASE NOTE: Glitter HTV as well as other specialty HTVs like holographic MUST be the final layer(s) that are set with any design. You cannot layer anything on top of glitter vinyl but you can set different colors of glitter HTV all at the same time as long as they don’t overlap.
Since Siser Glitter HTV is much thicker than regular or Glow-In-The-Dark HTV, it requires a higher heat setting to get it to stick, normally 320 degrees F.
But, the Glow-In-The-Dark HTV is normally set at 305 degrees F. That’s a pretty big difference in temperature.
So, to avoid overheating the Glow-In-The-Dark HTV that’s already tacked down to the t-shirt while we set the Glitter HTV, we need to turn down the heat from 320 degrees to 315 degrees F instead.
Thoroughly Heat Set the Glitter and Glow In The Dark Heat Transfer Vinyls to Set Them
Cover the glitter HTV elements and glow-in-the-dark words with the Teflon sheet or parchment paper once more.
Once the EasyPress2 is ready, press it down over the HTV layers and heat for 15 seconds only with light-medium pressure.
Siser Glitter HTV is a hot peel, so I immediately remove the backing sheets from the elements. It looks great and both types of HTV are now thoroughly heat set on the t-shirt. Yay!
The Glow-In-The-Dark Effect on the T-Shirt
Now that the shirt is complete, I turn the lights down to admire the glow-in-the-dark effect on the shirt. Pretty cool!
The green glow does fade fairly quickly and you do need to be under a pretty strong light source to get it to activate before you turn the lights off. But, it’s a really fun look for Halloween and I think kids would especially love it.
Why Not Heat Each Type of Heat Transfer Vinyl for the Full Setting Time?
The reason you have to do a short 2-5 second heat pressing on the first Glow-In-The-Dark layer rather than the normal full 10-15 seconds is because of the glue that holds the vinyl on to the shirt (or whatever blank you are using).
If you overheat the vinyl layers, the glue will basically melt off of the heat transfer vinyl into the shirt making it impossible to adhere the vinyl design to it.
In other words, if you were to fully set both layers for 15 seconds, you would actually be heating the Glow-In-The-Dark Layer double the amount of time it should be heated to set it (30 seconds instead of 15). That makes it highly likely that the Glow-In-The-Dark HTV would lose it’s stick by the end of the whole 30 seconds and the words would just fall off the shirt.
That’s why you have to tack the Glow-In-The-Dark layer down for the very short 2-5 seconds to just barely get it set but not enough to melt the glue off. Then you only fully set everything for the full 15 seconds once the glitter elements are in place.
I hope that makes sense and helps you create your very own glow-in-the-dark plus glitter HTV designs!
Other Ideas for the Halloween Word Collage
Questions or Comments?
If you have any questions, please leave me a comment below and I will get back to you soon. Want to just tell me how much you loved this tutorial? Please leave me a comment below – lol!
Suggestions?
I would also appreciate any ideas you may have for topics to cover related to the software for Cricut (Design Space), Silhouette (Studio) or Brother (Canvas Workspace) and any suggestions you may have on projects to create with the Cricut Maker, Cricut Joy, Silhouette Cameo 4 or the Brother Scan N Cut DX. Please leave any requests you have in the comments. I appreciate you taking the time to visit and read my blog. Thanks!
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The HALLOWEEN WORD COLLAGE Design is available for FREE in my Resource Library. CLICK HERE to sign up for the password to access it.
