How to Weld and Convert Text to Rhinestones with Sure Cuts A Lot 4

Every year in December we say good bye to the past and hello to a new year of possibilities. Possibly, you’ve already decided on a new years resolution. If you’re one of the majority then maybe you’ve resolved to learn something new or start a new hobby. There’s always something new to learn about working with heat transfer vinyl and many not only make a hobby of it, but they also create a business. So if you’ve resolved to make more money in 2017, HTV is also for you! Check out this post if your new to HTV. If you’re already using HTV leave a comment and let me know what you’d like to learn on the Siser Blog in the new year!

Today we’ll go over how to weld text into one solid cut line and how to convert that text into a rhinestone template with SCAL software. I’m really excited that I can now convert images and text to rhinestone shapes. The more design possibilities the better! We’ve worked with rhinestone templates and Holographic HTV before in this post and this one! But did you know the rhinestone style also gives a great effect when cut from Glitter? Glitter rhinestones are another CPSIA certified alternative to rhinestones.

To start, select the text tool on the left side and type out your message. When you select the text you can see that each letter is an individual cut line. I want the word to be one fluid cut line.

To achieve that go to the Style window and check the Weld box. You won’t notice a physical difference, but you can be sure your text is really welded by selecting Preview on the top ribbon.

To transform those cut lines into rhinestones go to Effects>Rhinestones. Then the rhinestone window will pop up and you can choose your rhinestone shape, size, and spacing.

Click OK and check out your new rhinestone template.

To complete my sparkly new year shirt I added a champagne bottle and some circles to look like we just popped the bubbly. When the design was finished I selected everything> right click> Transform> Flip Horizontal (Mirror.)

Now the design is ready to be cut. This post explains how to set up the HTV on the cutting mat and load it into the iCraft. I cut the champagne bottle from EasyWeed®. EasyWeed can be cut with the standard Heat Transfer setting. Glitter HTV can be cut with these settings- Offset: .25 mm, Speed: 15 cm/s, and Pressure: 135g. However, you’ll need to make one adjustment when you cut a rhinestone design out of Glitter HTV. Adding a .25 mm overcut ensures the blade finishes cutting the full circle and allows for easiest weeding.

When the HTV is cut you can weed away the parts you don’t need.

Once all your transfers are weeded head over to your heat press. I set the press to 305°F with medium pressure. I’m applying on a J. America glitter t-shirt for an extra sparkly style. I set up the t-shirt so that all the seams are off the lower platen, covered the blank shirt with a heat transfer cover sheet, and pre-pressed the shirt for a few seconds to remove any wrinkles or moisture.  Next, I pressed each layer of vinyl individually with a heat transfer cover sheet.

1 second tack for gold EasyWeed™. Hot peel.

1 second tack for dark green EasyWeed. Peel the carrier hot.

Now on to the Glitter! The heat from each press will fully adhere the EasyWeed layers that were tacked on.

5 second press gold confetti Glitter rhinestones. Peel the carrier warm.

5 second press for gold confetti Glitter. Peel the carrier warm.

This top makes me feel ready to take on the new year! The gold confetti Glitter rhinestones mirror the shimmery champagne bubbles while on a sparkly background. I’m resolving to use more gold confetti Glitter HTV in 2017! Don’t forget to let me know what you’d like to learn in the new year in the comment section below!