*This is a sponsored post & contains affiliate links.
Have you ever wanted to make custom shirts for your family? There are so many parties, events, races, teams, ect. that have matching shirts. Getting those shirts custom made can cost a fortune. Cricut has made it easier than ever to design and make your own shirts!!! Using the Cricut maker and the NEW EasyPress 2 you can be creating in minutes!! My family is doing a walk on September 15th to support the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention, in honor of my sister in law Kristy. We wanted our team, Kristy’s Soul Fighters, to have matching shirts, so I decided to make them!!! Continue reading for some tips and tricks and a full tutorial of my project.
Lets get started with supplies needed.
Click any link below to purchase!
Shirts for team/family
Large piece of parchment paper
To figure out to amount of supplies you need, start by creating your logo. Will you be putting something on the back? Team name or players name? I created this heart with a semicolon for my logo.
The semicolon is used in suicide prevention. It symbolizes where one could have taken their life; but chose to go on. We loved the semicolon with the heart and thought it was the perfect logo. We also wanted to include the team name onto the back of the shirts. Here is a link to this project in design space if you would like to customize the name, https://design.cricut.com/#/design/101955374
Create your logo and name or whatever you decide. Think about if you want to have the men and the women to have different sizes of logo and name. In my case, we didn’t think that the men would want a giant heart on their shirts so we decided for the men, to just make a small pocket logo and the name big across the back.
We also had children so we made a male and a female version for the children sizes too. Make your logos and choose what size you will need. This will help you determine how much Sportsflex iron on material you will need.
Have you used the slice tool before? This tool will allow you to customize images in Cricut Design Space.
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- CHOOSE A HEART.
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- ADD A SQUARE IMAGE
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- UNLOCK THE SQUARE AT THE BOTTOM LEFT CORNER AND MAKE IT SMALLER.
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- PLACE THE RECTANGLE WHERE YOU WOULD LIKE TO REMOVE SOME OF THE HEART.
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- SELECT BOTH IMAGES, RIGHT CLICK, AND SELECT SLICE.
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- PULL BACK ALL THE PIECES AND YOU WILL SEE THE SLICE RESULT.
Insert text onto your canvas, and add a semicolon. Click on both images, right click, and select weld. This will make your 2 images into 1.
Design all sizes and words that you need. Have them all on the same canvas so you can see them all.
Determine how many of each design you will need. I created mats to determine how many rolls of Sportsflex Iron-on that I needed. I wanted to save as much space as possible so i just placed them and attached them where i wanted them and cut multiple pages to get what i needed.
Using your Cricut Maker Machine, cut out all your mats that you will need. A little trick to placing your material onto the mat is to leave it on the roll after removing the packaging. This will allow you to easily attach just the top of the Sportsflex Iron-on to the mat. Then you simple just roll the material off the roll. Doing this will also make sure you are placing the material on the right side. You always want the shiny liner side down when cutting Iron-on material. It’s designed to be cut as a mirrored image. You will need to click on the Mirror image button after you click create and your in the cutting preview page.
Weed all images and cut apart. I labeled large gallon sized bags and separated each size for each shirt grouping.
Making a ton of shirts with multiple styles can get very confusing. Make yourself a list of all sizes with names attached. Make any other notes that you feel would be helpful. Separate the shirts into the Different styles. Lay them out in order from smallest to largest. This will help keep you organized. Use Address labels to write names on and place on shirt. Cross off the name on the list to help keep you on track of what is done and what’s not done.
Now for the really fun part!!! Ironing your images on. The NEW Cricut EasyPress 2 is soooo amazing and really made this project possible. As you can see in my images above I had a lot of shirts to make. 50 to be exact!! I had sizes from small youth-3XL men. I created the large logos on the back of the shirts to be 11.5 inches wide, I wanted to get the most out of my Sportsflex iron-on, so I only wanted to go the width of the mat. The Cricut EasyPress 2 comes in a darling raspberry color that is so cute and in 3 different sizes, 6×7, 9×9, and 12×10 which is the one that I am using in my project today.
The variety of sizes really makes them ideal for any project small to large! What’s different other than the size? All of the EasyPress 2’s have a faster heat up time, precise temperature control up to 400 degrees, ceramic plate for dry, consistent heat from edge to edge, USB port for firmware updates, a new streamlined base to sit your EasyPress 2 on and protect your crafting surface. They also created EasyPress mat’s for all sizes.
Like seriously? They thought of it all!!! I love how much Cricut cares about us makers! They are always coming up with ways to really help improve our projects and project time!
Using the New Cricut EasyPress 2 in the 12×10 size and the larger EasyPress Mat, I was able to apply the large team name onto the back of all the mens and adult women T-Shirts in one press!!!! Previously with the old EasyPress that was only offered in the 9×9 size you would have had to apply it in 2 presses, half and half. Having this larger 12×10 EasyPress 2 really made putting all these shirts together so quick. You will be able to get professional quality shirts in 60 seconds or less. The EasyPress 2 is easy and safe to use in the home. The easy to read digital display and timer will allow you to set the required temperature using the guide lines that cricut has already created for you for all the material and iron on types! You can get that here-> EasyPress Recommendations guide
In my materials needed, I said to use a piece of parchment paper. This is used to protect your shirt from the 305 degree heat that is required for the Sportsflex Iron-on. I also recommended the Cricut Protective sheet. I love using this sheet as a barrier in between the shirt. Sometimes and in my case with this project, the back of the shirt had several seams. I didn’t want those seams to show through when I pressed the big front heart on, so I slid the protective sheet in between the layers so that wouldn’t happen. I have used this in several cases, so it’s something that I like to recommend and it’s really inexpensive too!
Another tip: when applying a front and back to shirts. The Sportsflex Iron-on requires a 30 second press on the front and a 15 second press on the back. To save time, I pressed the front for 30 seconds. Turned over the shirt, placed the name on the back and pressed for 30 seconds. This finishes the front press by heating it on the back side while also doing the front side of the back name. You will be pressing the back side for 30 seconds instead of 15 and that is ok. Flip it over, remove the liner from the front logo, replace parchment paper and heat one more time for only 15 seconds for the back press on the back name. 
The EasyPress 2 only requires a slight lean. Unlike those big, bulky heat presses that require you to put your arms in between 2 hot plates, the EasyPress 2 in safe and so easy to use.
Creating your team shirts is now easier than ever thanks to the Cricut EasyPress 2. I love how our shirts turned out! Here are a few of us in our shirts. I can’t wait to have the whole group together. I will post a big group picture after the race too.
The walk for the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention is on September 15th. I am so happy to have been able to make these shirts in honor of my sister in law Kristy, who we lost on January 29, 2018. If you or someone you know is struggling, please contact the Suicide Prevention Lifeline. You are not alone, never never give up.
Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK(8255)
or Text
Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741
If you would like to join or make a team and walk for someone you know, there is still time to sign up. It is free to sign up and you can donate to the foundation if you would like! WALK TO FIGHT SUICIDE.
https://afsp.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=5193
IN HONOR AND LOVING MEMORY OF
KRISTY WRIGHT
Thank you so much for sharing in this special event for my family. I hope that you enjoyed my post and that you now have more info about how easy to use and how amazing the New EasyPress 2 really is!! Links to all products used are above in the materials needed section of this post.
Happy Crafting Friends!
XOXOXO
PIN FOR LATER!!!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.
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