My oldest daughter loves neon – any colour, doesn’t matter, as long as it’s blindingly bright.
So when I saw the new neon heat transfer vinyl (or iron on vinyl) from Expressions Vinyl, and saw that it was also glittered, I had to have it for one of her party activities. I had planned to make personalized pillowcases that the girls could autograph. The neon heat transfer was just the cherry on the sundae that made this project perfect.
This new color line comes in six bright and glittery colors – yellow, orange, green, pink, purple, and blue. Since we were having six party guests, I used one sheet of each. (The sheets measure 9×12, and I probably could have cut two names from one sheet but I liked the idea of having them all different colours.)
Here’s a bit of a side note: To start, I “created” my pillowcases. Now, I am far from a sewing expert and there are many sites out there who can give much better tutorials on sewing then I could possibly imagine, so please follow them. I started with plain white pillow cases, and cut about 6 inches off the end. Then I sewed on a band of patterned fabric that I found at our local fabric store. (The colours were a dead match, I couldn’t believe it!) I made things very difficult on myself by completely breaking down the pillow cases, piecing them together with my patterned fabric, and resewing them back together. It took me forever – so long that I got so frustrated and didn’t even remember to take pictures as went – which isn’t that bad of a thing because please do not follow me! The next morning my mother in law came over and said “Why didn’t you make a tube with the patterned fabric and sew it over the end of the pillow case?” Ahh, yes… hind sight is… wait for it… 20/20.
So, back to the vinyl. After I had my pillowcases created, I started cutting out my vinyl. I used my Cricut Explore, and it cut through the vinyl like butter. It didn’t snag at all, not even once! (If you have an Explore, I like to use the Iron On+ setting for any glittered iron on, because it seems to be a bit thicker than regular iron on, and this setting cuts so nicely through it.)
Some general tips on cutting heat transfer vinyl if you have never used it:
- DON’T FORGET TO MIRROR YOUR IMAGE! For the love of heavens, don’t forget! I have done this so much in the past, and it really, really sucks.
- Always place your iron on face down. One thing I liked about this particular product is that the backing is white, instead of the same color as the vinyl itself – it makes it really easy to tell if it’s the right way or not.
- Use a hook tool (like shown in the picture above) to remove small pieces, like the inside of letters. If something isn;t fully cut in a little spot – don’t pull it! You may rip the entire thing. Use a pair of scissors to snip the remaining little piece.
After I cut each of the girls names (I used the font KG Happy Solid), I had some vinyl left over and thought it would be cute to add a little symbol representing something they each loved. One thing I also loved about using my Cricut for this project was that I could use almost any design I could think of – whether it was in the image library or not. I ended up using an owl, soccer ball, and a running horse from the library, and I uploaded my own designs of music notes, the monster high logo, and a rearing horse. (I didn’t make these FYI, so don’t be intimidated. It was as easy as doing a google search and then uploading the image in my design space software.)
The last step was to iron the names and symbols on. I struggled for awhile with the heat transfer not sticking down. I blamed my iron. I blamed my pillow cases. I blamed the vinyl. However, I should have blamed myself for not reading the instructions because *pfft* I’ve worked with iron on before.
Except I forgot to DRY iron it. DRY – no steam, or it won’t fully adhere… Not that I learned the hard way or anything.
The girls just loved their pillowcases. Since several of her best friends are moving away this year (at the start of planning this party, 3 of 5 guests were slated to move away this summer – gotta love living in a military community – but thankfully 1 got to stay.) I thought it would be cute to have them autograph each others pillow and write little messages to each other to remember when they move away. You would never imagine how something so simple could excite a bunch of nine year olds. “Best. Idea. Ever” were my daughters words!
And there you have it! If you or someone you love is addicted to neon, you can find this amazing iron on vinyl at Expressions Vinyl, where you can buy it buy the sheet instead of a big roll. I’m definitely going to be working with this product more!
**I was provided with the heat transfer sheets used in this product, but as always, I only give my own opinion and never share products I do not absolutely love.**
Heidi says
I love your blog post of the DIY pillowcases! I’m a daycare provider and I’m looking for a different Christmas gift for all my kiddos and this seems like a perfect idea. The only thing I am wondering is does the vinyl transfers hold up wash after wash?
Sarah says
It should be fine, but I use them more as a decorative piece – my daughter finds the neon glitter especially a bit rough to sleep on.
wendee says
I would like to make these for my daughter and friends for 5th grade camp. Is there a specific thread count on the pillowcases I need to look for when using with a heatpress?
Sarah says
I am so sorry that I am just seeing this! If it still helps, the thread count isn’t too important, but I tried some with the silky microfiber type fabric, and that was too shiny or slippery or something… it didn’t stick as well to that fabric as it did to the cotton ones. Hope that helps!
Sean says
This is so cute! What size font did you use?
Sarah says
I’m not sure, I usually measure the space I want to fill, and then size my text to fill that space. It usually doesn’t end up being a certain size. Hope that helps?! Sorry!