How To Make A Layered Iron-On Vinyl Shirt Using A EasyPress 2 – Tutorial & Video

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This layered Cricut EasyPress 2 iron-on mesh vinyl design is perfect if your kids play football. I even created a short video and a Cricut design file so you can make this layered vinyl design for your child too! You can find both in this post. You can put their name and jersey number on their shirt to make it one of a kind design. Since my son plays football he has been begging me to make him a custom shirt with his jersey number. So I told him to give me one of his blank shirts, which is one of his school colors and I will create him a custom shirt. You can see from the image below here is what the back of the shirt looks like.

Product Used To Make A Layered HTV Vinyl Shirt

These are affiliate links.

• Polyester T-Shirt – https://nerdymomsunited.com/recommends/polyester-shirt
• Cricut EasyPress2 – https://nerdymomsunited.com/recommends/cricut-easypress
• Cricut EasyPress Mat – https://nerdymomsunited.com/recommends/cricut-easypress
• Cricut Mesh iron-on vinyl – https://nerdymomsunited.com/recommends/cricut-mesh-iron-on

How To Layer HTV Vinyl On A Shirt Using A EasyPress 2 – Tutorial

1. Cut your design out of the vinyl with the shiny side down on your cutting mat and mirror image turned on.
   
2. Preheat your Cricut EasyPress 2 following the Cricut EasyPress Heating Setting Chart here! (You can find this chart at the bottom of the post.)
   
3. The Cricut button will turn “Green” when the EasyPress 2 is ready to be used on your project.
   
4. Put your EasyPress Mat inside your shirt and pre-press the area where you would like to add your design to go for 5 seconds. (This will remove extra moister from the design area.)
   
5. Place your design (shiny side up) on the shirt where the EasyPress Mat is located.
   
6. Following the project directions for your iron-on material time and temperature. Info can be found here (https://cricut.com/en_us/heatguide or see the chart below)
   
7. Put the EasyPress 2 on top of your vinyl design and set the time.
   
8. Remove EasyPress 2 when the timer is done.
   
9. Peel the clear backing from your vinyl design.
   
10. Let the vinyl layer and shirt cool be fore applying the next layer.
    
11. Apply your next layer of vinyl (shiny side up) on top of the first layer of the vinyl on your shirt.
    
12. Put the clear backing from your first vinyl layer on top of all the layers.
    
13. Put the EasyPress 2 on top of the vinyl layers and set the time.
    
14. Remove EasyPress 2 when the timer is done.
    
15. Peel the clear backing from your vinyl layers.
    
16. Let the vinyl layer and shirt cool be fore applying the next layer.
    
17. Repeat steps 11 through 14 for additional layers.
    
18. For the last layer leave the clear backing on from your vinyl layers on the shirt. (Very important step!)
    
19. Remove your EasyPress Mat inside your shirt.
    
20. Turn the shirt inside out so the design is now on the inside.
    
21. Put your EasyPress Mat inside your shirt with the vinyl design sitting in the middle of your mat.
    
22. Make sure the clear backing is still attached to the vinyl design.
    
23. Put the EasyPress 2 on top of the vinyl layers and set the time.
    
24. Remove EasyPress 2 when the timer is done.
    
25. Let the vinyl layers and shirt cool.
    
26. Turn the shirt right-side out so the design is now on the outside of the shirt.
    
27. Peel the clear backing from your vinyl layers.

Very important tip: Don’t forget! When you do any heat press or transfer projects that your image and text needs to be a mirror image. You must do this before you run your project through the Cricut machine or everything will be backward! Unless that was your plan for the project from the beginning!

Here is the front of my son’s shirt with a smaller helmet and jersey number. It just looks bigger since I zoomed on the design. I used a polyester shirt and the Cricut mesh iron-on. The EasyPress 2 should be set to 315 Fahrenheit for 30 seconds. Once the front is done I flipped the shirt inside out and pressed the back of the design for 15 seconds. I removed the clear transfer liner when the design was cool to the touch.

You can get the download of this Cricut SVG layered vinyl project file, so you can make this craft for yourself.

How To Layer HTV Vinyl On A Shirt Using A EasyPress 2 – Video

Here is a video detailing all of the steps of how I did this layered vinyl shirt project with my Cricut EasyPress.

Cricut EasyPress Heating Setting Chart

This chart below details the heat settings and timing for the different material that you can use with the Cricut heat transfer vinyl and iron-on product line. Feel free to print this post so you can save this chart for yourself. In each block the heat setting is on top and the timing for the transfer is in seconds on the lower half of the dividing line. The letter in parentheses is telling you how to set the Mini EasyPress. (L) is for the Low setting and the (M) is for the medium setting. I included a detailed notes section at the bottom of the chart for how to use the Mini EasyPress settings.

Cricut EasyPress Heating Setting Chart
Warm Peel					Cold Peel
	Everyday, Lite, & Metallic	Glitter	Holographic	Sport-Flex	Foil	Patterned
Burlap	305F (M) 30s	305F (M) 30s	305F (M) 30s	Don’t Use	Don’t Use	Don’t Use
Cotton	315F (M) 30s	330F (M) 30s	330F (M) 30s	Don’t Use	295F (L) 30s	340F (M) 50s
Cotton/ Poly Blend	315F (M) 30s	330F (M) 30s	330F (M) 30s	Don’t Use	295F (L) 30s	340F (M) 50s
Cotton/ Canvas	340F (M) 50s	270F (L) 30s	285F (L) 30s	Don’t Use	290F (L) 30s	340F (M) 50s
Felt	280F (L) 30s	270F (L) 30s	285F (L) 30s	Don’t Use	280F (L) 30s	265F (L) 20s
Jersey Mesh	280F (L) 30s	Don’t Use	Don’t Use	Don’t Use	280F (L) 30s	Don’t Use
Polyester	315F (M) 30s	330F (M) 30s	330F (M) 30s	305F (M) 30s	295F (M) 30s	Don’t Use
Silk	280F (L) 30s	Don’t Use	Don’t Use	Don’t Use	255F (L) 30s	Don’t Use
Nylon	280F (L) 30s	Don’t Use	Don’t Use	305F (L) 30s	255F (L) 30s	Don’t Use
Cardstock	280F (L) 30s	290F (L) 30s	290F (L) 30s	Don’t Use	270F (L) 30s	290F (L) 30s
Chipboard	315F (M) 30s	315F (M) 30s	315F (M) 30s	Don’t Use	Don’t Use	315F (M) 30s
Faux Leather	280F (L) 30s	270F (L) 30s	285F (L) 30s	Don’t Use	280F (L) 30s	265F (L) 20s
Wood	300F (M) 40s	300F (M) 40s	300F (M) 40s	Don’t Use	Don’t Use	305F (M) 30s
Cricut EasyPress Mini Heat Settings: (L) – Low: For lightweight, delicate, synthetic, or heat-sensitive fabrics; also great for more delicate heat-transfer vinyl, such as Foil Iron-On. Use with sensitive base materials or heat-transfer materials that transfer between 255°F (125°C) – 295°F (145°C). (M) – Medium: For most fabrics and heat-transfer vinyl. Use with most base materials or heat-transfer materials that transfer between 300°F (150°C) – 355°F (180°C). (H) – High: For Infusible Ink projects and blanks. Use with Infusible Ink materials, heavy-duty base materials, and other heat-transfer materials that transfer between 360°F (185°C) – 400°F (205°C).

Can I Use An Iron Instead Of The Cricut EasyPress 2?

You can use a standard iron but you run the risk of dealing with inconsistent heating temperatures on your project. This can cause two problems.

1. A low temperature iron will cause your iron-on vinyl to not stick to your project and it will peel of in the washer machine.
2. A over heated iron will cause your iron-on vinyl to burn on your project and can leave scorch marks on your fabric.

This is why I don’t use a regular iron to do my heat transfer and iron-on projects. I have seen too many iron-on failed projects and my share of frustration from inconsistent heating temperatures from a regular iron. Please don’t make the same mistake I did! I had a project I spent hours on, to only have it ruined a week later by one washing.

Talk about a big disappointment! If I’m going to spend time on a project, I am not going to waste my time doing it halfway. I admit I am a perfectionist when it comes to my craft projects and as a mom, I have very little free time to do them again. I know every mom can relate to that!

I know I had a squirrel moment there! Dang those squirrels! Back to my battle with the iron and why the EasyPress 2 has solved my iron-on project woes.

I’ve had iron-in projects ruined from uneven heating because I did not have an EasyPress 2 at the time. I will explain why! A regular iron will not get hot enough, an iron is not able to provide even steady pressure and heat, and/or wide enough to complete the project. All of the iron-in transfer materials will require different heat settings and heating time for the transfer to be completed. The EasyPress 2 has an easy temperature and timer controls, to take the guesswork and frustration out of your projects.

I hope this post was helpful to you in do a layered vinyl EasyPress 2 project!

I make a commission from purchases made through links in my posts, at no extra cost to you. Read my disclosure for more information.

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