Hello!

Welcome to another tutorial and free cut file for you, Halloween is almost here, and with the new limited edition Halloween Mystery box, we thought you may like to have some inspiration on how to use it, these vinyls are all available separately too!  Here’s a quick and easy tutorial for a multi layered T-shirt design. Of course, this design isn’t limited to T-shirts and clothes, it can be used with self adhesive or cards, just adapt the process to the medium you plan to use it on and be sure to check our application guides as appropriate.

Get crafting this fun design for loved ones, friends, and family. You could even do a matching Glass, Card, T-shirt and Gift bag with the design to really impress your friends or family! This Tutorial is also suited for the Silhouette Cameo and Portrait range, Cricut Maker, Explore and Air 2 and if resized for the Joy, and also Brother scan n cut, Plus other Plotters. Please see further down for the free files, and for Silhouette and Brother machines instructions after the tutorial.  Please bare in mind the cut and mat settings will need to be adjusted as appropriate for the machine – see our settings guide here 

We would love to see what you make!  Have you found our You Tube channel yet? The video showing this and all of our other tutorials are  available on there, as well as exclusive demos, inspiration and more!  Join us on Facebook , Instagram or Tiktok or  send us an email to [email protected] we would love to hear from you!

***watch this being made here***

What you’ll need:

• Cricut machine Available  Here Or Silhouette Cameo 4. Available Here 
• Cricut Easypress and Easypress Mat Available Here
• GMCrafts LED light panel Available Here 
• Halloween Mystery Box. Available Here
• Or if you prefer to buy the rolls separately;
• Dark Green and Neon Orange Glow in the dark HTV. Available Here
• Silver Reflective HTV Available Here
• High Gloss HTV Available Here
• Squeegee. Available Here
• Weeding tweezers . Available Here
• Scissors,  and T-shirt from your own stash
• Silicone Paper, this is like the baking paper you can buy in the supermarket on a roll for the kitchen- DO NOT USE TEFLON
• Cut files, which are free below! Including, Cricut, Silhouette and Brother cut files.

HALOWWEN HTV FILES

Instructions;

1. Before you start you will need to download the cut files for your chosen machine, link above. Unzip the file to use it by right clicking it in your downloads.

2. Upload each PNG into the design space. Click “Upload Image” marked yellow below  on the left-hand Design Panel, and navigate to the  files you want to open. Select ‘Insert image’ and select image type ‘simple’ when prompted. Next you’ll be asked to delete any space that does not get cut, you can skip this part by pressing ‘continue’. When asked if they’re print-then-cut images or just cut images, select cut images. Click save. When it has been uploaded, Insert the images onto the canvas and resize to suit your project, I centre the designs using the Center alignment tool as shown below in Yellow, then recolour each one differently, so I can cut the different Vinyl for each layer, which means I don’t have to keep returning to the design page, see below, then click make it to move on to the next screen. On the next screen, If using the Cricut Maker 3 then you will need to choose to cut on the mat (unless using smart media)

3. When on the next screen below, ensure you MIRROR the wording. If you forget please do it by clicking the edit function for each mat in the cut screen, before you proceed to cut. Click continue in the bottom right on the next screen. In the next window make sure your settings are all set to the successful settings from your test cut and ensure your machine is linked before proceeding to cut. Cut settings: (**please test cut) Press the flashing Cricut symbol on your maker to cut, after loading the sheet into the machine. Apply the settings needed for your chosen Vinyl, we made it with our GM Glossy, Glow in the dark, and Reflective HTV on the maker 3, and used the Everyday Iron on setting on the Cricut maker 3 with Default pressure.

**A reminder that these settings, including the blade setting, are specific to the materials and machine we’re using, adjustments may be necessary if using different materials and machine**

We always recommend before proceeding, you test cut your materials when first using so if you have not recently used this product in your machine. Please test cut for your chosen machine found on our Application guide, and also Blog.  Load the Vinyl chosen individually for each layer.

4. Place the Vinyl for the First layer you are cutting on the mat. Press the up arrow to load the mat, and press the flashing light to proceed to cut on the machine. Once cut repeat to cut with the remaining different layers.

5. Once all Layers/ colours are cut, Switch your Easy press on, and set the temperature to 150’c and the timer to 8 seconds, (Please note settings for this when pressing a single layer only are Pressing Temperature: 140°C – 150°C Pressing Time:8- 12 seconds for Gloss and 8 seconds for reflective and Glow in the dark. Warm/Cool Peel Suitable for cotton, polyester and blends.) For other Vinyl please refer to our  Application guide, When Layering it is important to reduce the layering times so not to over heat the vinyl.

6. Whilst the Press is heating up, switch on your LED pad and remove the waste Vinyl surrounding the designs (weeding) I use a pair of weeding tweezers to do this as shown below.

7. Once weeded  Place the easy press mat under the  T-shirt or whatever you are applying it to, and preheat once the press is ready for 10 seconds to remove any moisture. Lay the design already on the transfer tape in the correct place facing up, and ensure it is on a hard surface, or Cricut Easy press matt and on a hard surface,  check our guide here for more information on applying and using HTV successfully. Press each area once only for 6-8 seconds firmly using your upper body weight over the press. Because we are Layering, I have not used the full press time, and I will leave the transfer sheet to go cool before removing, if any areas lift once doing this- repress for a few more seconds- please note ensure any collar or seams are off the pressing mat so not to interfere with the pressure needed. See Below. I try to let the press areas go cold before repressing the next layer.

8. Move the garment on the pressing mat, and repeat step 7 to apply the next layer. Ensure you protect your design as shown with the silicone paper. (If need be use Baking paper for this)

9. Only press for the full time on the last top layer.  If after removing the sheet the  design is looking a bit untidy then recover with a sheet of Silicone Paper or baking parchment and quickly repress smoothing over it like an iron would, but quickly so not to over heat.  Don’t forget your finished design can be matched by using any material cut using a cutting file, card, self adhesive vinyl or even HTV. We’d love to see your makes on our social media pages! Or email them in!

Silhouette Cut File

Instructions:

Before you start, you need to download the cut file,  Upload the cut file into Silhouette Studio and resize as necessary,  (when resizing bring all  layers into the design software and select all  at once to get the correct offset layers and save the adjusted file, so you can cut layers individually at that correct scale you have chosen) Remember to test cut if necessary and cut settings are found here along with test cut guidelines for every machine.

Brother Cut File

To import these files into the Brother Canvas Workspace:

After downloading, please log in as usual to your design space account, open a new project mat, then left click on the SVG  icon in the top left bar in canvas, this will then allow you to import your files. Once you left click this icon, a pop up box appears with you to choose where to import file  from, choose to import the file from your downloads list or where you have chosen to save when unzipped.

Cut settings are found here

Just incase you need the link CanvasWorkspace (brother.com)