I love making my toddler personalized shirts using my Cricut Maker, Explore Air 2, and Cricut Joy. If I am in my craft room and office, I'll use my Cricut Maker. If I'm crafting with the kids in the living room, I'll use my Cricut Joy.
Customizing fun t-shirts for my kids is so much fun. I love having my Cricut machines around for the simple fact that if there is some sort of theme at school or for an event, I can whip up a shirt in no-time.
This morning, my three year old was throwing some princess fits, so I needed to capture her personality with a shirt.
I got in some fun designs with Cricut Infusible Ink, and I wanted to show you how to use them on their new line of custom blank apparel for toddlers. Learn all about Cricut Infusible Ink and how it differs from regular heat transfer vinyl.
In This Post
All About Cricut Infusible Ink Sheets
Cricut Infusible Ink Sheets will allow you to create designs on your blanks that infuse the ink into the material. Unlike vinyl, there is no material that is melted on top of the blank. Rather, it is infused (some call it sublimated) into the blank.
- INFUSIBLE INK TRANSFER - With the ready-to-cut Cricut Infusible Ink Transfer Sheets, get seamless infusible ink transfers & create pro-quality designs. Unlike iron-on, the infusible ink becomes one with your compatible material and lasts a lifetime
- INNOVATIVE TRANSFER SHEETS - Each pack comes with (2) 12" x 12" (30.5 cm x 30.5 cm) Infusible Ink Transfer Sheets and 2 sheets of butcher paper to protect all your Cricut products from getting inked during the heat transfer process
- VIBRANT COLORS - The infusible ink sheets come in a wide variety of colors and patterns. When transferred using high temperatures, these pre-inked sheets blossom into vivid hues, resulting in smooth transfers that do not peel, wrinkle, flake, or wash-off
- INFUSIBLE INK: Unlike iron-on transfers or heat-transfer vinyl that adheres to your project's surface, Infusible Ink designs become one with your compatible material, resulting in rich, full-color transfers that last a lifetime. Infuse designs into the Cricut blank of your choice using Cricut EasyPress
- INNOVATIVE TRANSFER SHEETS: Each pack comes with two 12inches x 12inches (30. 5cm x 30. 5cm) Infusible Ink Transfer Sheets and 2 sheets of butcher paper to protect all your Cricut products from getting ink on them during the heat transfer process
- VIBRANT COLOR AND PATTERN OPTIONS: These innovative transfer sheets come in a wide variety of colors and patterns. When transferred using high temperatures, these pre-inked sheets blossom into vibrant, vivid hues before your eyes, resulting in seamlessly smooth transfers that are peel-proof, flake-proof, and wash-proof!
- HTVSTD solid color sublimation transfer ink sheets includes 23 pcs different color sublimation transfer sheets, single pc is 12" * 10" , it's ready-to-cut for you to create more easily.
- HTVSTD Sublimation transfer ink sheets would be more suitable to working with light color materials , and it works great with higher polyester fabric(60% polyester at least), and for other items , it must have the sublimation surface.
- HTVSTD sublimation transfer ink paper can be used in clothes, hats, eye masks, shoes, handbags, pillows, cups, mobile phone cases, bookmarks, mouse pads, key chains, and is suitable for sublimation.
They come in a multitude of colors sheets - from patterns to any solid color you could probably think of.
The blank is the material that you are putting the ink on.
In the case of this tutorial, I'm using Cricut's Toddler T-Shirt Blanks (crew necks) that come in 2T, 3T, and 4T sizes.
- 1 youth's crew-neck T-shirt blank, Small (6-7)
- Customize this blank with original artwork for standout DIY projects; For Adult use only
- Compatible with Infusible Ink Transfer Sheets, Pens & Markers for peel-proof, flake-proof, wash-proof transfers
Difference Between Cricut Infusible Ink Sheets and Heat Transfer Vinyl
Infusible Ink Sheets allow the ink to infuse into the blank material whereas heat transfer vinyl still has some "raised" surfaces when the vinyl is added.
With Infusible Ink, you'll notice that the ink sheets will be lighter in color. That's because the heat is what transforms the sheet into a more vibrant application on the blank you are adding it to:
How to Make Toddler T-Shirts with Cricut Infusible Ink
This tutorial is going to teach you all about how you can make fun, cute toddler t-shirts with Cricut Infusible Ink.
Supplies Needed for Cricut Infusible Ink for Young Kids
- Cricut Maker, Cricut Explore Air 2, or Cricut Joy
- Cricut Infusible Ink Sheets (Brushed Sunset)
- Computer with Design Space Installed (my design here)
- Heat Press (Easy Press 2 here or the Heat Press I'm using)
- Cricut Standard Mat
- White Butcher Paper
- White Card stock
- Lint Roller
- Scissors
Directions for Cricut Infusible Ink Shirts for Kids and Toddlers
1. Measure your shirt to figure out how wide and tall your design should be.
2. Open up Design Space and create your design (use my design here). Resize the design as necessary. Ensure your design is mirrored.
3. Once Design is ready, click on "Make It". This will then walk you through the steps to choosing your material.
4. If you don't see the "Infusible Ink" as an option, search for it and choose it. Cricut will then guide you to the necessary steps including what to do with the machine.
5. Next, you'll want to weed the negative and excess infusible ink sheets. You won't be able to re-use these, so just throw the extra away.
6. Set up your press for the temperature settings using the Cricut Heat Guide here.
7. Pre-Press your shirt for 15 seconds. Use the lint roller to roll off any dust or debris, as this can cause big implications to your design.
8. Add the white card stock inside the shirt to protect the other side from getting ink on it.
9. Add the design face down on the shirt, followed by the butcher paper that came with the infusible ink sheet (I'm using Brushed Sunset)
10. Press the design using the heat press (or Easy Press) based on the Cricut Heat Guide here.
11. Remove the backing (careful, it will be hot).
12. Now, you've got yourself a personalized shirt.
Summary of Cricut Shirts for Toddlers and Kids
I absolutely love how this shirt turned out. My toddler's personality is captured perfectly with this personalized Cricut Infusible Ink t-shirt. It's made of soft polyester, so I know she'll love wearing it all day.
Other Cricut Infusible Ink Posts You Might Love
If you liked this post on Cricut Infusible Ink for making toddler shirts, you might also like some of these other projects that use Cricut Infusible Ink.
- Best Places to Buy Cricut Infusible Ink Blanks
- Cricut Infusible Ink Pens Tutorial
- What is a Cricut Machine
- Cricut Joy Pros and Con
- Cut Chipboard with Cricut
How to Use Cricut Infusible Ink Pens on a Shirt
This is how to make use Cricut infusible ink and transfer the artwork onto the shirt.
Materials
- Heavy Card Stock
- A shirt made of greater than 65% polyester blend
Tools
- Heat Press or Iron (that heats up to 400°F)
- Butcher Paper or Teflon
- Cricut Infusible Ink Pens
- Cutting machine (optional)
Instructions
- Outline your artwork on cardstock using the Cricut infusible ink pens. You can free hand it or use a cutting machine with the ink pens in the adapter.
- Color in your outline with the infusible ink pens.
- Set the heat press to 400°F.
- Clean the shirt and pre-press the shirt for 40 seconds to prepare for the binding.
- Layer on the artwork art side down, followed by the butcher paper. Next, press down once the heat press is heated to 400°F for 40 seconds.
- Allow cool before removing and wearing.
Notes
When you color in your artwork, it will look lighter than what it will look like when you transfer it onto the final material. Once transferred, your artwork will look more vibrant.
