DIY Embellished Beanie with Siser Heat Transfer Vinyl

Did you know that peacock feathers are actually coated in microscopic crystals? This is what gives their already gorgeous colors a lustrous sheen. Similar to the reflecting crystals on the peacock feathers, Holographic has color changing chips embedded in the material that reflect and shine in the light. Glitter also shimmers for an eye catching effect. That’s what makes Holographic and Glitter perfect materials for a peacock feather decoration. Keep reading to learn how you can apply your own decorations to an acrylic beanie.

The first thing you will have to do is choose a beanie. My beanie is royal blue, but for this project I like to think of it as peacock blue. It also, like most beanies, has ribbing. It’s important to choose a beanie with small ribbing or none at all. This is because the HTV and adhesive can not fully adhere into the small crevices which can result in puckering or lifting.

The ribbing without any stretch.

Deep grooves become visible when you stretch the ribbing.

When the hat is chosen you can design your embellishment! Start by measuring the brim of your hat. My brim is 2.5″ tall so I will size my artwork to 2″ tall to give myself a small margin. I created this peacock inspired decoration in Cricut Design Space using the pre-loaded shapes and free shapes from the Cricut Design Store.

When I was finished designing I could move on to cutting out my HTV. Click here to learn how to cut Siser HTV on the Cricut Explore Air. When you color your objects in Cricut Design Space the system automatically separates the colors on different mats so you can easily switch out your material that’s being cut. I cut Glitter with the “Iron on +” dial setting, Holographic was cut with “Light Cardstock,” and I cut EasyWeed with the “Iron on” setting.

Remove the excess vinyl from the cut out shapes. This process is called weeding and is helped along by our nifty tool, the Siser Weeder.

So all of my transfers are weeded and the clear carrier sheets are cut as close as possible to the material. While EasyWeed is usually pressed at 305°F I only have one EasyWeed transfer and the rest are either Glitter or Holographic which need to be applied at 320°F, so I went with majority rules and set the heat press to 320°F.

I started with my Chocolate EasyWeed layer. Go here to read why the order you apply your vinyl pieces is important. Cover the entire hat with a cover sheet when pressing. Be careful, the acrylic beanie gets hot! I pressed the EasyWeed for 1 second to tack it down then I peeled the carrier sheet immediately after pressing.

Chocolate EasyWeed Layer

Now on to the sparkly layers! I pressed each Glitter layer for 2-5 seconds. Glitter carriers should be peeled while they’re still warm. Holographic was my last layer so I pressed it for 10 seconds to fully adhere all my layers. Then I peeled the Holographic carriers when they were cold.

Light Green Glitter Layer

Emerald Glitter Layer

Black Glitter Layer

Green Holographic Layer

I decided to drop the purple flourishes from my design after I laid them out on the acrylic beanie. They distracted from the color scheme and seemed unnecessary. Always keep your editing eyes open and be careful not to over design!

My inspiration and the finished product! I gotta say I’m feeling pretty as a peacock! I may not have iridescent feathers, but I have sparkly Holographic and Glitter!

Can you see how the hat stretches, but the HTV does not? Here’s a closer view.

While the stretching isn’t prominent in this design it is something to keep in mind for future acrylic beanie projects. If you don’t have a heat press and want to use an iron for your acrylic beanie project check out this video.

Applying on acrylic will not require any adjustments to the regular application settings for Siser heat transfer vinyl. You can have all the HTV heat application instructions in the palm of your hand when you download the Siser North America app, available on Google Play and on the App Store.