Cricut Vinyl Projects – 100+ Ideas for Easy Vinyl Projects!

Instructions

STEP 1: GET MY FREE CRICUT VINYL PROJECT FILES

The first step is to download my Cricut Vinyl Projects designs from my free resource library -- it's design #405. The SVGs are in one file for easy uploading! I've also included a DXF for other cutting machines and a PDF to cut by hand.

TIP: If you are not sure how to upload an SVG cut file to Cricut Design Space, watch this helpful video training series I made.

If you are on an iPad or iPhone, here is how to download and upload SVG files to the Cricut Design Space app.

Upload the design collection to Cricut Design Space and add it to your Canvas.

This is what my Cricut Vinyl Projects SVG file looks like on my Canvas. You can zoom out to see all of the designs by clicking on the minus (-) sign on the lower left.

Notice that the Love and Beach designs use one color, but the ship design uses three, including letters and an offset layer that overlap. Keep that in mind while deciding how to use it and which materials to incorporate

STEP 2: PLAN YOUR IRON-ON VINYL AND BLANK MATERIAL

When it comes to Cricut Iron-On Vinyl, there are several types to choose from and a few rules to follow for the best results. You should always check that the vinyl will work with the item you want to decorate and you're layering them in the correct order.

LAYERING

Certain iron-on materials cannot be the base layer for layered iron-on vinyl designs. These types of vinyl should NOT have anything applied over them: Holographic, Holographic Sparkle, Foil, Glitter, Glitter Mesh, or flocked iron-on. The design will likely peel over time, especially when washed.

Everyday Iron-On makes the best base for layering. Holographic, Holographic Sparkle, Foil, Glitter, Glitter Mesh, and flocked iron-on can be layered over Everyday Iron-On.

EVERYDAY IRON-ON

Cricut's Everyday Iron-On is the most universal of the heat transfer vinyls. It easily applies to the most types of materials. The appropriate blanks include burlap, cardstock, chipboard, cork board, 100% cotton, cotton canvas, cotton/poly blend, faux leather, felt, mesh, muslin, neoprene, polyester, silk, wood, and wool.

GLITTER IRON-ON

Glitter Iron-On adds a sparkle to your vinyl projects! You can apply it on its own or layer it over Everyday Iron-On. Ideal blank materials include burlap, cardstock, chipboad, cork board, 100% cotton, cotton canvas, cotton/poly blend, faux leather, felt, muslin, neoprene, polyester, wood, and wool.

SPORTFLEX IRON-ON

Cricut's SportFlex Iron-On is great for active wear! It is ideal for polyester and nylon fabrics but can also adhere to cork board and neoprene. It is important to note that the SportFlex Iron-On will not adhere to high cotton-blend fabrics.

EVERYDAY IRON-ON MESH

The Everyday Mesh Iron-On adds a fun aspect to your iron-on vinyl designs. It can be layered to enhance the mesh appearance or applied by itself. It best applies to burlap, cardstock, chipboard, cork board, 100% cotton, cotton canvas, cotton/poly blend, faux leather, felt, mesh, muslin, neoprene, nylon, polyester, silk, wood, and wool.

FOIL IRON-ON

Foil Iron-On adds a shiny, eye-catching touch to your designs. It will work well on cardstock, 100% cotton, cotton canvas, cotton/poly blend, faux leather, felt, mesh, muslin, neoprene, nylon, polyester, silk, and wool.

STEP 3: PREPARE YOUR CRICUT VINYL DESIGNS

These fun designs are nearly ready to apply to any compatible blank. It's a good idea to separate the designs to make customizing and cutting easier.

First, click "UnGroup" to separate the designs on the Canvas.

Now you can hide or delete whatever you do not want to make. I'm going to make all three so I will leave them all on the Canvas.

Next, measure the blanks to determine the size for each design. I'm going to make a shirt, zipper pouch, and tote. When you're deciding on a size, also keep in mind the machine mat size and the area of your heat press if you want to cover the design all at once.

100% Polyester T-shirt with Love Design in Cricut SportFlex Iron-On

You can use the diagrams in my Sublimation T-shirts for Beginners tutorial to find the best design size for your shirt type.

Since I'm making a women's medium crewneck, I will resize the Love design to a maximum of 10" wide and 12" tall. Keep the lock icon at the top closed to maintain the design proportions and enter the correct width dimension into the W field under Size. I'll enter 10.

If you'd like, change the color by clicking the color box next to Operation and making a selection. I'm going to change it to white to decorate a teal shirt with Cricut SportFlex Iron-On.

Zipper Pouch with Beach Life design in Mesh Iron-On

Next, the zipper pouch would be perfect for keeping beach accessories together. For this item, we don't want the design to get too close to the zipper or edges since those areas are hard to heat and press evenly. Measure your pouch and subtract 1" from each dimension to create a .5" margin all around the design.

My pouch is 11" x 9" so I'll change the design's height to "8" for a good fit. Remember to keep the lock icon closed.

I'm also going to change this design to blue.

Tote with Multicolored Ship design in Various Vinyl Types

Based on the size of my tote, I'm going to leave the lock icon closed and change the W to "10."

The ship design is already separated into layers to use different colors. You can change them by selecting the individual layers and using the color box. The color that you set on your Canvas does not have to be the same color vinyl you use. You can ultimately place any color of vinyl on the cutting mat.

I'm going to make the ship in dark blue Foil Iron-On, both of the hearts layers in gold Everyday Iron-On, and the letter backgrounds in navy Everyday Iron-On, which can layer with the white Glitter Iron-On I want to use for the letters.

IMPORTANT: If you are using different types of vinyl, don't use the same color for more than one layer, including any other designs you're cutting at the same time. Cricut Design Space will put the same colors on the same mat to cut together.

Since I want the letters to go on their own mat, I'll make them gray.

Here's how my Canvas looks now.

For Any Project

Once your designs are sized and your colors are set for the different types of vinyl, select the right machine and click "Make It" in the upper corner.

STEP 4: CUT AND WEED YOUR CRICUT VINYL DESIGNS

If you are prompted to pick how you will load your material, make the appropriate selection. I am using different types of Iron-on Vinyl on a 12" x 12" StandardGrip Machine Mat with my Maker 3 so I will select "On Mat." Click Continue.

On the Prepare screen, make sure the correct design pieces are on the right mats if you're cutting them out of the same material. If you see a mistake, click Cancel to go back and fix it.

Then, toggle "Mirror" ON for every mat. That way, the decals will face the right direction when we flip them over and iron them on to the blanks.

Click back on the first mat and then click Continue in the lower right corner.

On the Make screen, remember to change the material setting for each mat if you're using different types. If you don't see the vinyl you are using as a Material option, click "Browse All Materials" to search for it and select it.

For all of the types of vinyl, I will select "More" Pressure from the dropdown menu. A Cricut Fine-Point Blade worked for all of my vinyl.

It is important to place your iron-on vinyl SHINY SIDE DOWN on each machine mat. That way, we can adhere the correct side to the blank and the mirrored words will be legible.

Press the flashing arrows to load your mat into your Cricut machine and when the middle button flashes, press it to begin the cut.

When the first mat is done, press the flashing arrows to unload the mat. Flip the mat over and gently peel it away from the vinyl. This helps prevent unwanted curling.

Place the next piece of vinyl shiny side down on the mat and load it into your Cricut. Again, select the appropriate material and "More" Pressure.

Repeat these steps until you've cut all of your design pieces.

Once the vinyl is done cutting, use your scissors to trim away excess material around the designs. Then, use a weeding tool to remove the rest of the vinyl including all of the small bits inside the letters.

If you're using white vinyl, it can be hard to tell the material from the carrier sheet and find all the small pieces to remove. I like to place the vinyl on my Cricut BrightPad, which really helps!

STEP 5: PRESS YOUR CRICUT VINYL PROJECTS

Different blanks, materials, and presses require different temperature, pressure, and peeling combinations. Consult the Cricut Heat Guide if you are using anything different from me.

100% Polyester T-shirt with Love Design in Cricut SportFlex Iron-On

Preheat the EasyPress to 305°. Lint roll the shirt's front to remove any debris. Fold your shirt in half length-wise and place it on the heat resistant mat. Once the heatpress comes to the right temperature, press the crease for a few seconds to make an alignment line.

Open the shirt and lay it face up, flat on the mat.

Carefully fold your design in the same way, creasing just the very top and bottom of the liner and not any of the vinyl.

Place the design shiny side up and the vinyl against the shirt, lining up the crease marks. The top of the design should be about 3" below the collar for an adult crew neck shirt. Use the crease to center the design and make sure it's even. Add heat resistant tape to keep the design in place.

SportFlex Iron-On is very thin, so place a teflon sheet or piece of butcher paper over the liner to help spread the heat out. Press the design with light pressure (just hold the press in place with one hand) for 30 seconds.

Then, gently flip the shirt over and press the back with light pressure for 15 seconds.

Allow the shirt and vinyl to cool and gently remove the tape and liner. All done!

Zipper Pouch with Beach Life design in Mesh Iron-On

Set the EasyPress to 340°. Lint roll the pouch to remove any debris. Lay the pouch face up on your pressing mat. Once it comes to temperature, preheat the pouch for 5 seconds on the side you want to decorate.

Place the Mesh Iron-On design on the zipper pouch vinyl side down. Add heat resistant tape to keep the design in place. Press with light pressure for 30 seconds. Flip the pouch over and press the back for 15 seconds.

Allow the design and pouch to cool and gently remove the tape and liner. This one is done too!

Tote with Multicolored Ship design in Various Vinyl Types

Layered vinyl designs take more planning and often have different press settings. And remember, some of the vinyls (Holographic, Holographic Sparkle, Foil, Glitter, Glitter Mesh, or flocked iron-on) can't have another layer added on top. That means the glitter letters will go on top as a second layer.

My first layer will be:

• the Foil Iron-On ship
• the Everyday Iron-On hearts
• and the Everyday Iron-On letter offset

Then, I'll add the Glitter Iron-On letters as the top layer.

Closely trim the excess liner around the ship, heart, and offset pieces so that they won't overlap when in place. If any liner gets between the vinyl and the tote, the design will not stick.

If you're working with vinyls that require different temperature like I am, preheat the EasyPress to the lowest one. I set mine to 290°.

Lint roll the tote to remove any debris. When the press comes to temperature, preheat the tote on the heat resistant mat with light pressure for 5 seconds.

Place the ship, hearts, and offset layer vinyl side down on the tote. Add heat resistant tape to keep the designs in place.

Press the designs for 30 seconds with light pressure. Gently flip the tote and press for another 15 seconds on the back side.

Leave the ship and heart liners in place to protect them from the next press. When cool, only remove the tape and liner for the offset piece.

Lower the Easy Press temperature to 270° for Glitter Iron-On. Place the wording over the offset piece, vinyl side down. Make the visible offset as even as possible around the letters.

Add more tape to keep it in place.

Press the design for 30 seconds. Although the Cricut Heat Guide says to use light pressure, I used medium pressure (press with two hands) to help the bottom layer of Everyday Iron-On adhere to the tote.

Flip the tote and again press for 15 seconds from the back. When cool, gently remove all of the tape and liner pieces.

TIP: If any sections of vinyl lift with the carrier sheet, put it back down, place liner over any nearby vinyl, and reheat the area with the EasyPress.

You're done!

STEP 6: SHOW IT OFF

You're all done and now have some awesome Cricut Vinyl Projects! I can't wait to see your projects! I recommend waiting at least 24 hours before washing and wash inside-out if you can.