How to Customize Scrubs with EasyWeed
Who will you be showing some love to this Valentine’s Day? Your first answer probably wasn’t “my nurse!”, but medical professionals often work holidays and they deserve a little extra affection too! I remember when I was little and thought the best part about becoming a medical worker was the fun patterned scrubs they got to wear. The characters would always take my mind off of why I was at the doctor’s office making my visit more enjoyable.
One character you can easily make in Cricut Design Space is a Valentine’s puppy dog! Nothing fancy here folks, just hearts and circles! Click here to save yourself the work and use my cut file in Cricut Design Space.
Make sure to measure the pocket you’ll be applying on and size your artwork accordingly. I used EasyWeed for this project which typically requires the “Iron On” setting on the Cricut smart dial. Not everyone’s settings will be the same though because of blade wear, so go to this post to determine your best cut settings.
After all my pieces were cut out, I used my Siser Weeder to weed away the extra HTV that I didn’t need to heat apply.
Then I took all of my weeded transfers and stacked them so that they resembled the finished pup. This is one of the benefits of EasyWeed’s pressure sensitive carrier! It’s sticky carrier lets you make a mini mock up that retains your alignment. This way I can place the transfers in my heat application area and easily peel away the upper layers to press each bottom layer.
You may be thinking to yourself, “What’s that odd tan thing inside of the pocket?” That, my friends, is a heat transfer pillow! It’s one of the best tools for heat application especially if you’re applying on pockets or near seams, collars, and necklines. The pillow elevates the pocket area from the stitching which allows the upper platen to come in full contact with the vinyl. Without a pillow I would have parts of the HTV hanging off unapplied after pressing because the stitching props up the upper platen.
When heat transfer vinyl doesn’t stick many people think they need to simply press longer, harder, or at a higher temp, when really the first thing to troubleshoot is improper pressure. If your HTV is falling off no matter your efforts check out this post.
Heat pressing a layered design like this requires the standard heat press settings for EasyWeed – Temperature: 305°F, Pressure: Medium, Peel Carrier: Hot. Notice I didn’t list time! That’s because each layer of EasyWeed does not need to be pressed for the standard 10-15 seconds. When you press a layered design you only want to press each layer for a few seconds. This is because the bottom layers will receive the additional heat from each press that follows.
Remember to keep your carriers trimmed close to the HTV and never overlap the HTV over another carrier.
Pressing Bubblegum EasyWeed™ for 1-5 seconds. Peel carrier hot.
Pressing Red EasyWeed™ for 5 seconds. Peel clear carrier immediately after pressing.
A heat transfer cover sheet is a necessity when heat pressing HTV. It’s especially important when heat pressing layered designs because it keeps the previously applied layers from melting to the upper platen.
Just a few quick presses and the custom Valentine’s Day scrubs are finished and festive!
What are you making out of HTV for Valentine’s Day? Tell us about it in the comments! Maybe you’re not sure what to make yet, and that’s ok because you can get inspired on our Pinterest board: Valentine’s Day HTV Ideas!