Tuesday 25 October 2016

A little project with die cutting tshirt vinyl



Hello Tonic Studios fans. You haven't heard much from me lately because I've been settling into my new home and been very busy gardening and other projects around the house. However, it was time for a little Tonic creativity. We have three lots of french doors in our new home, and they currently have bunches of keys with our home builders key ring attached. None too pretty. It was time to make something nice to look at for our bedroom door key. I fell in love with this gorgeous compass die. There are so many things it could be used for. This time,  I decided to use some T shirt flock vinyl for my little project.
I had a bit of a brainwave when using the vinyl this time. The vinyl has an adhesive heat activated backing and then on top of the flock there is a thick layer of heat safe clear plastic which you iron on top of ( it is really intended to be used in an industrial heat press) In the past I have either cut through the layers with a die cutting machine that has a metal shim, or have die cut it on the reverse, then it will cut the vinyl but usually not completely through the thick top layer, or just run it through my machine loads and loads of times to achieve a cut. I wanted to use my Tonic Tangerine machine, and I didn't want to cut the die back to front.  It finally dawned on me I could cut a square of the vinyl to the size I needed, then remove the thick plastic top layer before die cutting, then put the plastic back on top of my diecut to iron it to the fabric. It was so easy and worked a treat. It cut perfectly first time.


I've stuffed my little key fob with lavender so that every time it is handled you get the gorgeous aroma. It makes it weighty too so it hangs nicely.

I hope you like my little project. Why not give die cutting tshirt vinyl a go. It's great for adding a lovely accent to clothing, cushions and more.

If you'd like to see some past flock vinyl projects that I die cut with Tonic dies, here are some links...
Stuart the stag
Wedding ring cushion
Baby Vest
Tooth Fairy Pillow
Butterfly T shirt

Have a lovely day