Hello Kindergarten T-Shirt

So this post is super late as I am sure most school-age kids have been back to school for a couple of weeks, but I just had to share the sweet Hello Kindergarten T-shirt I made for my niece’s first day of kindergarten.

I originally thought she would just wear it for a photo with her chalkboard she insisted on actually wearing it for the first day of school and my Auntie heart was bursting with joy.

If you’ve been around here for a while, you know that I am all about cute and easy crafts that I can do while also cooking dinner, doing laundry, etc. I whipped this darling t-shirt up in about 15 minutes (if you don’t count the prep time of washing and drying the t-shirt the week prior) and was out the door for our cousin playdate.

Estimated Time: 15 Minutes

Skill Level:  Beginner

Care: Machine wash cold and dry with light heat.

Supplies Needed:

• Silhouette CAMEO®
• Silhouette Cutting Mat
• Silhouette Cutting Blade
• Weeding Hook
• Silhouette Studio
• “Hello Kindergarten” Design
• Heat Transfer Vinyl – Black Glitter
• Cotton T-shirt (be sure to pre-wash and dry)
• Iron or heat press

Step One: Creating Your Design:

Open up your Silhouette Studio®.

Select the Page Setup Window and adjust your cutting mat size to 12×12 (or the sized mat you are using).

Download your design from The Silhouette Design Store and then open in Silhouette Studio. Click File>Library>Library and select your downloaded file.

Measure your cotton t-shirt and re-size your design to the correct space on your 12×12 template – be sure to move the design as a group so it keeps everything lined up. You can do this by clicking and dragging to cover the whole design and then moving as one piece.

Attach your Glitter Heat Transfer Vinyl to the cutting mat, color side down, and load into your machine. 

You will need to flip your design so it appears backward for Heat Transfer Vinyl – this is called “mirroring” your design. Highlight your design, click “object” from the toolbar, “mirror” from the menu and then “horizontally” to mirror it.

Follow the prompts in the Design Studio to adjust your blade (if using a ratchet blade) for Glitter Heat Transfer Vinyl and double-check to make sure your design has been selected to cut. 

Select “Send” to start cutting.

Press “Unload” when your machine has finished cutting your design to remove the cutting mat from the machine.

Step Two: Preparing Your Design:

Remove your sheets of Glitter Heat Transfer Vinyl from the cutting mat – go slow so it doesn’t curl up or tear.

Use your fingers or a weeding tool to remove the excess vinyl. Be sure to leave your design on the carrier sheet.

 

Step Three: Creating Your Hello Kindergarten T-shirt:

Pre-heat your cotton t-shirt – use your iron or heat press to warm up the fabric for a better transfer.

Place your design on your item right side up (this is why your design must be mirrored for cutting). 

Heat your design for the recommended time for the HTV you’re using. Use steady pressure. 

Peel back the clear carrier sheet. Some Heat Transfer Vinyl requires a hot or cold peel – always follow the recommended peel for your heat transfer vinyl. Tip: pull from a corner and not the side to make sure each part of the design transfers completely to your cotton t-shirt.

Flip your t-shirt over and give it a 10-second press to really activate the adhesive.

Once you’ve applied your design and allowed it to cool, your cotton t-shirt is ready for wearing and all the cute school photographs! Be sure to make a buddy t-shirt for the last day of school while you’re crafting. Wild Pilot has “hello” and “goodbye” for kinder through 5th grade in the Design Store.