Spring has {almost} sprung, but instead of getting bit by the cleaning bug, I’ve become a willing victim of the crafting bug!  Not that it really takes much to bring out that side of me (ummm, Project Gallery, anyone?), but ever since it’s warmed up, I’ve felt super inspired.

I’ve also noticed that my son has outgrown most of his warm weather gear….hello toddler life.  So I decided to combine my desire to get my craft on and my son’s need of some new short sleeve duds into this very project: a cool wrap-around shark shirt!  Keep reading for all the fun details.

Oh, it’s also Silhouette Challenge time again!  Finally, right?  This quarter’s (yes, quarter’s) theme is Fabric & Apparel Crafts, and we’ve got 22 awesome projects being shared today.  Oh, did I mention that we’re also giving away a heat press?  Yes, we are!  Enter below for your chance to win!

[This post contains affiliate links.]

 

Wrap-Around Shark Shirt + Heat Press Giveaway!

Supplies

• T-shirt
• Tribal shark file
• White glitter heat transfer vinyl (HTV)
• Silhouette Cameo & 12″ x 24″ cutting mat
• Iron
• Cardboard box

 

My Mockup

At Target, I scored a plain gray t-shirt that amazingly didn’t have a pocket on the chest (why are colored pocketless tees so hard to find???).  So I brought it home, snapped a quick pic, and threw it in the wash, then got to work on my mockup.

The cool tribal shark design came from the Silhouette Design Store and it would work perfect for this project.

 

Silhouette Cut Settings

Once my shark was scaled to the appropriate size, I finalized my cut settings for my Silhouette Cameo.

When playing with glitter HTV, I generally use the default cut settings for Heat Transfer Material: Flocked (but always do a test cut first!).  Also, don’t forget to mirror your design when working with HTV since you have to flip it over to apply it, unlike regular vinyl.

Here are the settings I used here:

• Blade: 3
• Speed: 5
• Thickness: 33

 

Cutting the Glitter HTV

I then browsed through my handy vinyl storage organizer and pulled out a sheet of white glitter HTV.  And if you’re anything like my husband, you’re probably thinking “Glitter??  For a BOY???  Pffffft.”

Yeah, yeah.  I get that it’s a little unusual.  But it’s my all-time favorite material to work with with my Silhouette Cameo.  Plus, everybody knows that real men (and little men) wear glitter.  And pink.  And whatever they want.

So I loaded my sheet of glitter HTV onto my cutting mat (shiny side down) and connected my Silhouette Cameo to my laptop.  Once my blade was adjusted, I let my machine work its magic!

And yes, my mat isn’t very sticky anymore so I used a few pieces of painter’s tape to hold it in place, and those paint sample jars helped to keep the mat from shifting as it got fed farther into the Silhouette.  Whatever works, folks! ;)

 

Applying the Glitter HTV

Once my design was finished cutting, I trimmed it away from the rest of the sheet then weeded (or removed) the excess vinyl.

I preheated my iron to the Cotton setting and placed a flattened cardboard box down to protect my floor (I’m way too lazy to haul out our big, clunky ironing board, plus you can get better leverage on the floor).

Then I positioned the shark decal so it was flat on the front of the shirt, making sure all wrinkles were smoothed away.  I then gradually ironed it onto the shirt, working about 8-10 seconds in one spot then moving my iron right along.

Once the HTV was fully applied, I carefully peeled away the clear backing then trimmed it away, leaving it over the rest of the shark’s tail that still needed to be adhered.

 

Next, I turned the shirt to the side so the rest of the area that needed to have the shark applied to it was nice and flat.  Then I repeated the steps and finished ironing the HTV into place.

Before applying the HTV, I was a little concerned that the seam might give me some issues.  However, the HTV actually stuck without any issues!

 

The Completed Wrap-Around Shark Shirt!

And here it is!  I think it turned out super cool.  The glitter actually works really well with this design since it glistens like wet scales….even though sharks don’t really have scales.  Whatev.  This will be perfect for my little man, especially during Shark Week! ;)

 

The Silhouette Challenge!

It’s Silhouette Challenge time again, y’all!  It’s been a while since we’ve had one of these, and 2016 is back with some changes: instead of having monthly Challenges, they’ll be quarterly now, BUT each one will have a super awesome giveaway!  Woot!

 

As you can see, this quarter’s theme is Fabric & Apparel Crafts, and we’ve got a total of 22 awesome projects to share with you today!  Hop around and check them all out!

1. Cutesy Crafts // 2. Mama Sonshine // 3. Morena’s Corner // 4. Simply Kelly Designs // 5. Coral + Mint Design Co. // 6. A Time For Seasons // 7. Architecture of a Mom // 8. Where The Smiles Have Been // 9. Haberdashery Fun // 10. The Thinking Closet // 11. The Crafting Nook // 12. Get Silvered // 13. Tori Grant Designs // 14. From Wine to Whine // 15. Create & Babble // 16. Curly Crafty Mom // 17. unOriginal Mom // 18. The Small Stuff Counts // 19. The Experimental Home // 20. Creative Ramblings // 21. Adventures in All Things Food // 22. Minted Strawberry

 

Heat Press Giveaway!

And I’ve saved the best for last!   Pro World Inc is giving one lucky reader a heat press valued at $300!  Pretty sweet, huh?

 

To enter: just complete the entries in the Rafflecopter widget below.  You have 30 potential entries, which means a lot of winning power.  So, hurry up and enter!

{This giveaway runs from today through Monday, March 21st at 11:59p eastern and is open to anyone 18 years of age or older with a lower 48 U.S. mailing address. You can read the rest of the terms and conditions in the widget below.}

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And since you’re probably a fan of giveaways of all types (because who isn’t?), head on over here to enter another giveaway I’m currently hosting….it’s also perfect for any Silhouette lover!

 

If You Enjoyed This….

Make sure you check out my Project Gallery for lots of other Silhouette projects, including some of these fabric and apparel tutorials!

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!