How to Apply HTV on Faux Leather

Remember all those times mom paid for your clothes, meals, and almost anything else you asked for? Well this Mother’s Day you can give back to the Bank of Mom with a custom coin purse. Even if you don’t have cash to fill it with you can include a gift card, her fave lipstick, or a sweet hand written note.

Growing up, my mom always kept a bit of cash on hand for impulse buys or a small treat. Her most common purchase was a Coca Cola. However “Mom’s Coke Fund” didn’t seem like the most appropriate decoration for this faux leather change purse. So I went with Mom’s mad money since I’m sure some days that Coca Cola was the only thing keeping her from going mad.

In order to size my text correctly, I created a mock up rounded rectangle that was the same width and height as my coin pouch. Then I fit my text within the space (the font and heart are free in Scan N Cut Studio.) The finished design can be wirelessly transferred or you can bring it into the machine on your flash drive.

Don't forget to mirror your text before cutting!

Place the HTV with the shiny carrier side down on the cutting mat and do a test cut to be sure your settings are good for the material. When your heat transfer vinyl is done in the cutter, trim the material closely and then use your Siser® EasyWeeder® to hook and remove the excess vinyl.

Don’t you just LOVE our Mint Glitter?! It’s going to look so cute on this cobalt blue change pouch. But before I commit to heat applying this I want to see how the faux leather material reacts to heat. If you’re ever unsure about the heat reaction from the item you’re applying on then it’s best to follow my 5 Tips for Applying Siser HTV to Heat Sensitive Materials.

I used rule #1 and test pressed an extra coin purse for 20 seconds at 280°F just to be safe. When no melting or discoloring occurred, I knew it was safe to go ahead with my craft.

Leave the zipper off the lower platen so the heat press can make a tight seal on the change purse. Next, cover everything with a heat transfer cover sheet and press for 5 seconds.

Take the zipper pouch off the heat press and peel the carrier. You may notice some stray glitter flakes lingering on the faux leather. Since the Glitter HTV was only tacked on for 5 seconds those flakes can still be brushed off. Remove them before recovering the pouch with a heat transfer cover sheet and pressing for 15 seconds. This process also eliminates the chance of a box mark left from the edges of the carrier.

After the second press, the HTV is truly set in place, so you can fill the coin purse with something special for mom!

While a heat press is your best bet for this project, I applied this same saying with an iron on the Wool setting and a 20 second long press, peel carrier, and finally a 30 second long press.

Now that you know how to heat apply heat transfer vinyl to faux leather, share the knowledge with your friends by sending them this blog post!