design store made

From Cut Files to T-Shirts!

~ dddesignz ~ 2 Comments

I spend most of my crafting time working on scrapbook pages, cards or designing classes. But one of my sidelines from working with cut files has been creating t-shirts for my grandchildren. With Christmas less than two weeks away, I spent some time yesterday making each of the grandchildren a t-shirt. Making t-shirts is a great way to personalize a gift for the recipient. I chose three cut file patterns that truly represented each of their personalities.

I purchase blank t-shirts from a local company called Bright Swan. A great Canadian company with excellent service and selection! Siser Heat Transfer Vinyl (HTV) is my go-to when making t-shirts. I use a Cricuit Easy Press (9″ x 9″) to transfer the vinyl to the t-shirts and find that this machine meets all my needs. It is very cost-efficient and can be stored easily, compared to a larger heat press.

The first t-shirt is for my oldest grandchild, Madison. She is very kind and caring and very aware of the impact that acts of kindness have on others around her. It was, therefore, fitting that I chose a cut file from Marcy Milly SVG to make her t-shirt. The World Kindness Day is a FREE cut file released on November 13, 2021, in honour of World Kindness Day.

I started this project by opening the SVG cut file in Silhouette Design Studio software (I use Designer Edition). Next, I ungrouped the file. Step three involved using the Fill panel to change the colours to those I would be using. These steps made the process much easier, as I now had a visual guide of the end product, and I was able to select the words by colour when it came time for cutting. The individual words, or group of words, were cut separately to minimize the waste of vinyl. Drawing a box or rectangle around each word, using the drawing tools in Silhouette, makes the weeding process very easy. Once all the individual files were cut, weeded and ready to go, I returned to the Silhouette software program to determine the centre point of the design. I gently fold the design where it intersects with the midline of the t-shirt. For this specific cut file the words Respect, Charity, Kindness, Goodness, Community and Affection all intersected with the centre line. Before adhering the design to the t-shirt, I fold the t-shirt in half and make a gentle press line to use as a guide. I’m very happy with the results and think Maddie is going to love this t-shirt!

The second t-shirt is for my oldest grandson, Owen. He loves playing video games and finds it amusing that I can’t keep up with him! This design came from Silhouette Studio. It was created by Hand Drawn Cuts and is Design ID #365234. I followed the same process as above and specifically used the turquoise HTV to match his controller. I grouped the coloured dots in the cut file to ensure they were spaced exactly as intended when pressing them to the t-shirt. I know Owen will love this t-shirt, and also find it amusing to wear to school!

Our youngest grandson Benjamin has a love for hedgehogs! This is also a Silhouette Studio design. It was created by Planeta Silhouette and is Design ID #212569. This design included layering the cut files that are all associated with the hedgehog. It was very easy to align and it pressed beautifully. Ben is going to love this t-shirt and who can resist giving him a hug when he’s wearing it?!

All I have left to do now is wrap these cute shirts and place them under the Christmas tree. I’m pretty sure I’m just as excited as they are for the big day!

I hope I’ve encouraged you to look at extending the use of your electronic cut files. Don’t be intimidated, making these shirts was not difficult, and I know you’ll find joy in making personalized shirts for your loved ones! Until next time, stay safe, stay well and Happy Scrapping!

EEK

~ dddesignz ~ Leave a comment

I hope you all had a wonderful, safe and fun Halloween yesterday. I love dressing up as a witch and handing out candy to all the excited children. Today’s post focuses on another picture from last year’s celebrations. With Covid restrictions and a ban on trick-or-treating, we celebrated in our driveway. Thank goodness for good weather!

I utilized Echo Park’s Halloween Party collection kit once again. The background for this layout is the backside of patterned paper HP250004 entitled Something Wicked. It is such a fun collection of papers and stickers. I’m sure I’ll be using it for many layouts.

The title for the layout, EEK, is a Silhouette Design Store cut file by Jillibean Soup (Design ID #386850). I resized the file to make it a bit bigger and cut it out of black cardstock. I love creating layers, textures, and stitching on my layouts. The spider webs in the cut file provided the perfect backdrop for adding in some soft stitching. The first step was to pierce holes in the spider webs found in the letters E and K. The spider webs were stitched using three strands of light silver DMC floss (#762). To enhance the spooky feel of the layout, the title was backfilled using Lawn Fawn’s Metallic Cardstock in Holographic 2.0. Ranger’s Glossy Accents was used to adhere the stitched cut file to the holographic background.

The large cut file at the top of the layout is entitled Halloween Corner by StudioIlustrado. It is also in the Silhouette Design Store (Design ID #65854). It was cut from black cardstock and the pumpkin eyes, noses, and mouths were kept to create a shadow effect. I choose to highlight the pumpkins and the ghost, leaving the bats flat on the page. This created continuity in the layout as the bats in both cut files appear to merge into one big cut file, encircling the photo. I used the knife tool in the Silhouette Studio software to isolate the ghost and pumpkins. This allowed me to cut the specific part of the cut file I desired, rather than having to waste paper by cutting out the entire cut file in another medium. The ghost was cut from vellum and adhered slightly offset with vellum tape. The pumpkins were cut from heavy orange textured cardstock and adhered with 3D foam squares by Scrapbook Adhesives.

A few simple elements were added to complete the layout. Two spooky spiders from Doodlebug Designs shape sprinkles were placed in the upper left and lower right spider webs. The small black and white sticker entitled Halloween Fun was placed above the picture on the right-hand side. The sticker was included in the Halloween Party collection pack.

Thanks for stopping in and until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!