How To Personalize A Kid's Art Smock

How to Heat Press Siser® Glitter to a 100% Polyester Art Smock

Kids are great, but they’ve been known to lose their belongings here and there. Especially at school where there may be several Hannahs who also own art smocks. Things can get mixed up. Cut back on the confusion and customize your kid’s belongings with Siser HTV. Heat transfer vinyl lasts longer than Sharpie and doesn’t smudge. Plus HTV comes in fun colors, textures, and finishes- like Glitter!

Start by measuring the area you want to heat apply. This will give you the dimensions to stay within when designing your cut file. I typed Hannah in Cricut Design Space and adjusted the font, height, and width. Then I sent the file to the cutter. Be sure to check the “Mirror Image (for iron-on)” box on the left of the screen. Otherwise the name will appear backwards on the art smock when it’s heat applied.

At first, I cut “Hannah” out of hot pink Glitter using the Iron On + setting, however I quickly discovered while weeding that I should have done a test cut. I learned the hard way that my blade has become too worn to use my common setting and had to cut the name again on the Light Cardstock setting. Learn more about the waste reducing test cut and how to achieve good cut lines on the Cricut Explore Air.

With good cut lines you can weed Siser Glitter in one piece!

Weeding bad cut lines versus good cut lines

Good cut lines make all the difference in the weeding process!

Now, I’d usually say after weeding it’s time to heat apply, but hold on let’s double check the tag. Some polyesters can melt under high heat, and the “warm iron when needed” note gives me a clue that this art smock may be susceptible to melting. Check out my 5 tips for heat applying heat sensitive materials if you’re in the same boat.

Another tip for applying on heat sensitive materials is to do a test press. I lowered my heat press temperature to 305°F instead of the standard 320°F for Glitter and pressed a small piece of Glitter on the corner of the art smock. After a 15 second press I peeled the carrier warm and revealed…no melting- yay! However, I did see a faint impression from the carrier.

To avoid the box impression I first lowered my pressure. Then I covered the area with a heat transfer cover sheet and pressed for 2 seconds to tack the Glitter down. Once the HTV is tacked down, peel the carrier warm, recover the pressing area with a cover sheet, and press for 15 seconds to fully adhere the Glitter. Removing the carrier after a short press and pressing again for the full time eliminates the chance of impression marks.

Siser Glitter is CPSIA certified so it’s safe to use on children’s garments like this art smock. Just looking at this sparkly pink art smock puts me in a crafty mood! Now Hannah will always know which art smock is hers!