Transferring T-shirt Silkscreens to a Hoodie

Intro: Transferring T-shirt Silkscreens to a Hoodie

It's easy to get T-shirts with your favorite bands on them, but not so much on a hoodie. A customer specifically wanted this done, so I thought I'd document it in case it was of interest or use to anyone else.

STEP 1: Chalk Out, Press Out and Cut Out

Chalk out the design that you want and trim just outside of that line with sharp scissors.

Smooth out fabric with warm iron

This is Heat'nBond Lite. It is similar to double-sided iron-on interfacing, but one side has paper that you later peel off.

I cut a squarish piece of the Heat'nbond the same shape as my design. Shiny paper up, textured glue side down.

Iron on according to instructions. Basically 2-3 seconds per spot, keep moving until done. This bonded the paper to the red jersey.

I then brought it over to the cutting mat and, using a rotary blade, squared up all the edges.

STEP 2: Apply

Chalk out exactly where you want your design to go onto the hoodie. Triple-check for perfect alignment.

Peel paper backing of Heat'nbond from jersey and place onto hoodie. It is not sticky, you can adjust it as necessary.

Place a thin piece of muslin or ironing cloth over design and iron according to instructions, about 6 seconds per spot.

After removing muslin I then ironed the edges where there was no silkscreen.

STEP 3: Sew Edges

Ironing on does not make it permanent so you still need to stitch the edges down. I chose to use a zigzag stitch to overcast the edges and to give flexibility as it is a stretch knit.

Make sure the needle just clears the edge to contain it through washings.

Pull loose threads through back and tie.

The finished patch

STEP 4: Additional Design

This is another part of their logo that wasn't on the T-shirt so I had to design.

I ironed on a piece of Heat'nbond larger than the design I would draw.

I drew on the design, reversed.

Cut out and place onto hoodie to figure where it looks best.

STEP 5: Peel, Iron and Paint

Peeled off backing and ironed on, right where the heart is. : )

I lightly penned on the exclamation point, then went over that with a Sharpie.

Let dry, a little heat with the iron and a light coat of Mod Podge. It dries clear with a satin finish.

STEP 6: Some More Stitching and All Done!

I narrowed and shortened the zigzag for the heart and went a little slower.

Pull loose thread through back and tie.

All Done!

Nice and neat, no distortion, will last through washings.

Comments

[avocadostains]

This is cool and well done but the title is misleading. Transfer I thought in the fashion sense generally means image only transfer. I think 'Transferring silkscreen t-shirts' is more accurate than 'transferring t-shirt silkscreens'.Not knockin your skills. You got some nice ibles.

[cdstudioNH]

Hi there! Thanks for the compliments and sorry for the confusion! : )

[avocadostains]

No prob, you got sewing skills, hey I was wondering I read in one of your ibles that your viking machine is your powerful machine, how much/what model is that, or is any embroidery machine going to be pretty powerful. I am just getting into sewing. I have a 200 dollarsish budget and want to get the most powerful machine I can. They dont seem to be rated in terms of how powerful they are. Any suggestions? If it could sew letters and shapes that would be awesome but most important is just that its as powerful as possible.

[cdstudioNH]

All home embroidery machines start at $400 new. The viking straight stitch that is a workhorse is $900. So, embroidery may be out for you unless you try craigslist, maybe ebay. Brother is an okay brand, Janome better.

[cdstudioNH]

Oh, and a new janome or viking embroidery is only $13,000. :D

[avocadostains]

Oh yea, no prob. I like your sweater to cardigan ible. I broke some gender rules and just bought a sewing machine myself, my inspiration being I dont like a lot of aspects of clothes that I have and with little mods they can be made awesome, more functional, more comfortable, for instance making hoody pockets into actual pockets that hold stuff, longer t-shirts, resize pants, take zippers and bulky seams/rear pockets out. I guess I'm like the princess and the pea with my clothes.

[avocadostains]

hoo wee. Might want to master hemming pants before I drop that kind of money, or should I say take out those kind of loans. I guess I could just buy part of a sewing machine...