Pokémon Go: Team Valor Hat

How to Heat Apply Hats Using a Siser Digital Cap Heat Press

Pokémon Go, the latest Pokémon game featuring augmented reality, has whipped the world into a Poké-frenzy. Pokémon games have been around since 1996, but never quite like this. There are interactive Poké Stops, Gym battles, and Pokémon hunting that you can only access by getting up and going outside. When the chance to catch em’ all in real life came around, millions jumped to the download button. Including me!

There are several decisions you will have to make for your character, but by far the most important is which team you join. There are 3 teams: Team Valor, Team Mystic, or Team Instinct. The team members work together to take Gyms in their area from rival teams. Gyms, Poké Stops, and rare Pokémon can draw crowds of other players and it’s likely you will meet fellow team members on your quest to be the best like no one ever was. Represent your team and dress the part of master Pokémon Trainer with Siser heat transfer vinyl!

I’m Team Valor, and the logo for my team is a Moltres Pokémon. I uploaded an SVG file of the logo to Scan N Cut Canvas by clicking the “SVG” button on the tool bar ribbon at the top. Brother’s Scan N Cut Canvas is a free online application that doesn’t require you to download any software. Just make an account and start creating!

I resized the logo, then I mirrored it by going to “Edit,” “Flip,” and “Horizontal Flip.” The “Horizontal Flip” looks like a double sided sailboat.

I want to cut Moltres in a different material than the outer circle, so I selected each part of the bird and then used the “Group” Tool under “Edit.” I did the same thing with the outer circle portions. Now I can separate each group from each other without changing the alignment of the shapes.

When the design portion is done set up your heat transfer vinyl on the cutting mat. I used bright red StripFlock for Moltres. I found the StripFlock stayed on the “Standard” Brother cutting mat ok, but the “Medium Tack” cutting mat really did the trick. Place the carrier side down on to the mat making sure none on the material overlaps the border lines. Smooth the material so it’s firmly stuck and there are no air bubbles.

Placing Siser StripFlock on the Brother Medium Tack cutting mat

The glossy side is the Carrier. This side will be face down for cutting, but face up for heat application.

Now you can load the material into the Brother Scan N Cut! Just line the mat up with the guides and select the top button to the right of the display screen (it looks like a little cutting mat.)

I loaded my design into the Brother Scan N Cut using a flash drive. The steps to uploading and finding your designs in the Brother Scan N Cut can be found in my previous post: Offsets: What Are They & How to Make Them.

To cut StripFlock on the Brother Scan N Cut, expose the Blade to 3, set the Pressure to 6, and Cut Speed to 1.

For the outer circle, I used red EasyWeed Electric. Repeat the steps for placing the material and loading the cutting mat. Since EasyWeed Electric is much thinner than StripFlock I changed my cut settings to Blade: 2, Pressure: 1, and Cut Speed: 1.

I like weeding because it’s fun to see the design reveal itself from what appears to be a solid piece of vinyl.

To get the best heat applications on hats we recommend the Siser Digital Cap Heat Press. Before placing the cap on the press be sure to remove any cardboard liners inside the hat. Next, position the hat on the curved platen and move the inner sweatband so it’s outside the hat. We always want nice, even pressure when heat applying, and the sweatband is like a seam on a t-shirt that will interfere. Finally, use the side lever to pull the back of the hat taut.

EasyWeed Electric should be applied at 305°F. I did a 1 second tack and peeled the carrier while it was hot. Then I raised my heat to 320°F for StripFlock. I used a couple pieces of thermal tape to keep the design lined up right then pressed everything for 10 seconds. Wait until the carrier is cold before peeling. When heat applying hats its best to use a heat transfer cover sheet, but a piece of parchment paper cut to size will work as well.