I'm so happy it's finally Fall! I love seeing the leaves change and hearing the crunchy sound under my feet. It's so simple to decorate for the seasons when you have the right tools. Heat transfer vinyl is one of my go-to's because it's straightforward and adds so much glam in just a few steps. Read on to learn how to make a festive fall pillow!
Supplies needed:
- Color Chimp Heat transfer vinyl in black and dark gold glitter
- Cutting machine (I used a Silhouette Cameo)
- Weeding hook or craft tweezers
- Home iron
- Blank pillow cover and pillow form
Step one: Prepare design in software
Open your software program and either import a design or create your own. I just wanted some simple text on my pillow so I started with the text tool and typed out my words.
Change the fonts and sizing using the Text Style window. I used a script font for the "hello" part and a thick block font for the "fall." I love how they are paired together!
With any script font, we don't want our letters to cut into the other letters where they overlap, like you see below:
Right click on your word and select Weld.
This will take those overlapping letters and weld them together into one word.
Now draw a rectangle the size of your pillow cover. In my case, I used a 16x16" cover. This will help you size your design accurately.
Now you can drag your design over onto the square and enlarge them to fit how you'd like.
Looking good! Now you can take each word and put it back on your working space to prepare to cut.
Step Two: Cut out each color of heat transfer material
Now that our design has been sized and welded, it's time to cut! Since heat transfer is cut on the backside, we must mirror our image before cutting. Right click on your design and select Flip Horizontally.
Go to the cut settings window and select the material you'll be using. For my "hello" I am using the dark gold glitter, so I selected Heat Transfer, Glitter for my cut settings. Be sure to change your blade accordingly if you aren't using the auto blade feature on the Silhouette Cameo 3.
Place your glitter HTV onto the cutting mat with shiny side DOWN. Load it into the machine and let it get to work!
Repeat for the black HTV and the word "Fall." Remember, shiny side down!
Step three: Weed HTV designs
After both parts of the design have been cut, it's time to weed. Start by peeling away the corner of the vinyl and leave the text.
Use a weeding hook or a pair of crafting tweezers to weed out the little insides of the letters.
Do the same for the gold word until both parts of the design have been weeded.
Step four: Iron HTV onto pillow cover
After everything has been weeded, it's time to add some heat! Warm up your iron to cotton settings with no steam. (For a heat press, follow the manufacturer's guidelines.) Iron out the wrinkles of the pillow cover so you have a smooth surface to work with.
Place your first color onto the cover and move it to where you'd like. You can move it as much as you want until heat is added.
Use a teflon sheet or a thin cloth and place it over the design (parchment paper works well also.) Press for 10-15 seconds on each area until the whole design has been pressed.
Gently peel off the clear carrier sheet. If any part of the vinyl starts to lift off, place the thin cloth and carrier sheet back down and press a little longer.
Repeat for the glitter HTV. Remember to never let your iron touch the vinyl directly. Always have a protective layer in between!
Now you have a customized pillow cover to add to your home decor!
Stuff the pillow form into your newly created cover and ooh and ahh over how pretty that dark gold glitter is! I am in love with it.
What is great about glitter HTV is how it slightly changes colors in the light. In bright light, you can really see the glitter sparkle all around. In lower light, the color itself stands out next to the black.
I think I'll make 10 more of these because I just love how it turned out!
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