DIY Spring Break Project: How to Apply Heat Transfer Vinyl on a Polyester Koozie
Whether you are hitting up the beach, cruising on the lake or sitting by the pool this Spring Break, you need this next HTV tutorial in your life ASAP. Fire up your Cricut machine and follow this step-by-step tutorial showing you how to make your own koozie how by applying heat transfer vinyl to polyester.
Difficulty Level: Easy
Estimated Time To Complete: 15 mins
Here's What You'll Need TO MAKE YOUR OWN KOOZIE:
- T-Shirt Vinyl (I used flocked heat transfer vinyl in light blue and smooth in white)
- Hook Tool
- Iron
- Cutting Mat
- A sheet of teflon paper, Parchment Paper or a Thin Cloth
- Blank Polyester Drink Koozies
- Cricut Maker or similar machine
Step One: Set Up Design
Open up the design you want to use in Cricut Design Space, scale it down to anything smaller than 4 inches since that's the standard size of a drink koozie. In the cut settings window, turn on the mirror option, set your material size and click continue.
Step Two: Cut
Next, depending on which heat transfer material you are working with (I used flocked and smooth for this project) you may need to click the "Browse All Materials" link to adjust the blade settings.
In the dropdown menu, choose the correct heat transfer material and click done.
Place the material on the cutting mat with the clear carrier sheet facing down.
Load the cutting mat into the machine by aligning it between the two guides and pressing the load button.
Step Three: Weed Designs
Once the cuts are complete, use scissors to remove the design from the rest of the vinyl and then use a hook tool to weed away the unwanted pieces.
Step Four: Apply Heat
Place the iron-on decal on the polyester drink holder so that the sticky side is face down. The design should no longer appear backward.
Cover the decal and the drink holder with a teflon sheet or a thin cloth then apply firm pressure with a hot iron for 15 seconds.
The recommended cooling time for flocked heat transfer vinyl is 1-2 minutes so wait at least one minute before removing the carrier sheet. For more HTV tutorials working with flocked heat transfer vinyl check out DIY Boho Dress Tutorial: How to Make a Faux-Embroidered Dress Using Flocked Heat Transfer Vinyl.
If you're working with smooth heat transfer material (which is also great for this project) you only need to wait about 10 seconds before peeling away the carrier sheet.
That's all there is to it! Polyester is a great material for heat transfer projects because the melting point is rather high so there is little risk of it melting. Also, polyester drink holders are readily available at most craft stores, Etsy and on Amazon. I found mine for less than $3 at Hobby Lobby.
Craftables carries a wide variety of heat transfer materials that will work well for this project. Smooth, flocked, glitter, foil and reflective heat transfer vinyl’s will all adhere beautifully to polyester so the possibilities are endless. Their vinyl is high quality, affordable and so easy to work with. What are you going to be making with Craftables heat transfer vinyl this year?
About the Author
Kayla
My name is Kayla and I’m a DIY loving mom of 3, living in North Carolina. I absolutely love creating! It doesn’t matter if it’s refinishing furniture or paper crafting, I love it all. I’m a former blogger for Silhouette America and current blogger for Cricut so I know the ins and outs of both machines and love teaching beginners all of the handy tips and tricks. Come visit my blog at kaylamakes.com or follow me on Instagram @kayla_made.