DIY Backpack Decoration With Heat Transfer Vinyl Tutorial

The first thing to do is measuring the space you have to apply the HTV. I wanted to use the whole front pocket.

Then I went to my Silhouette Studio and created my design. I wrote I’m a Cute Preschooler Girl and decorated with a couple of swirls and a flower. I made sure it would fit in the space I had.

Note: Make sure you don’t have any misspellings and that is everything just like you want it.

Once ready group every piece of your art and Mirror the image. This is very important. If you don’t mirror it, it won’t work.

Place the image where you want it to be cut and find your HTV option in settings and send to cut. Always make sure you cut your HTV with the plastic backing facing down.

Peel off everything that doesn’t belong to your design. Use the hook for small spaces or tricky parts.

On your ironing board, place your design on the the backpack with the backing facing up. Make sure it’s exactly where you want it.

Place carefully a piece of fabric on top of it and *Iron it for about 40 seconds to 1 Minute checking it here and there to make sure it’s sticking. I recommend you testing the time since each iron and heat press work differently.

*Note: Before starting this step find a hidden place in the surface you are about to use and do some trials to see how much heat the material can handle. In my case, this backpack although it was a kind of plastic could handle high heat.

Make sure it’s all adhered before you decide to peel off the backing. If it is, then carefully peel it off and then place the piece of fabric back and Iron it again for a few more seconds adding pressure to the iron.

*Note: NEVER iron directly on the HTV, always use a piece of cloth.

The HTV Backpack decoration is ready.

I chose some appliques such as buttons and some cute flowers.

Stitched a button in the middle of the flower and then a few flowers all around the text.

You can also make a name on another HTV color and apply it to the back of the backpack to label it.