Design Your Own T-Shirt with Artesprix

Hello! This is Alison Heikkila. Thanks for visiting today. How would you like to be able to draw out a design on paper, and then transfer it permanently to a t-shirt? With Artesprix Sublimation Markers, you can do it easily. The designs don’t need to be complicated…anything you can draw can be sublimated on to a polyester t-shirt. Let me show you how. ***Discount code is at the bottom of this post***

*Affiliate links are used in this post. That means that if you shop through these links, I may receive a small compensation, at no cost to you.

Materials:
Poly T-Shirt
Black Sublimation Markers (I used the fine point)
Protective Paper
Heat Tape
Heat Source: Home Iron or Artesprix Heat Press.
Pencil
Copy Paper

What are Sublimation Markers?
Artesprix Sublimation Markers and Ink are specially formulated inks that allow you to use basic copy paper to: color, stamp, and stencil anything you wish and turn it into a heat-transferable design. These designs are then applied to a polyester or polyester coated substrate with heat and pressure. You can use a heat press or a home iron! These designs, through this process of sublimation, will become permanent on your substrates. 

Step 1: I drew out my bat on copy paper with pencil. I was going for a woodcut feel, so I kept the design pretty simple. Normally at this step, you would trace your blank on to a sheet of copy paper so you knew the size of the area that you need to work in. But since I was working on a project for a shirt, I didn’t need to do that. After I finished my main design (I left out some of the detail lines to save myself some time), I made a copy of the drawing in case I made mistakes while I was redrawing the bat with my Sublimation Marker. This way, I always had my original. Also, please note that the words need to be backwards so that they transfer facing the correct direction. I held my bat up on a glass door backwards and wrote out “save the bats.” Then I flipped the paper over, held it on the glass again, and traced the letters to the front side of the drawing. 

Step 2: Redraw your creation with the Fine Point Black Sublimation Marker. Add in all of the details. This is a good time to turn on your Heat Press to 370 degrees.

Step 3: I need to reiterate, that since we are working on a shirt, some things are done a little differently than if you were working on an ornament or a bookmark, partially because the shirt is so much bigger than other blanks. Since you need to make a Sublimation Sandwich with your Protective Paper, I opted to add a piece to the inside of the shirt (so that the image doesn’t transfer through to the back) before I adhered my drawing. This way I didn’t have to worry about accidentally shifting my drawing to get the Protective Paper in the shirt later. You can see that layer in the photo above.

Step 4: I trimmed my finished drawing down to an oval shape, leaving a large border around it. This allowed me to position the drawing easily. I temporarily adhered the drawing to my t-shirt with Heat Tape. This tape is specially designed to work with your heat press or home iron, and can withstand temperatures up to 400 degrees. Keep in mind that if you put tape on the actual drawing, the image will not transfer where the tape is, so that is why I made sure to leave a wide border around my bat when I trimmed it down. 

Step 5: Place the top layer of Protective Paper on to your t-shirt.

Step 6: Press the shirt at 370 degrees for 35 seconds. If you’re using a home iron, set it to high and dry, place your Sublimation Sandwich on top of the Artesprix Project Mat, and press firmly for 3 minutes.

Step 7: Peek Test! This is a very important (and exciting!) step. Very carefully peel back part of the copy paper to see how your image has transferred. Be sure to not remove too much, in case you need to press the item again. Look at how rich those black lines are.

Step 8: The grand reveal!!! It is so cool to see a drawing I created from scratch permanently transferred to a t-shirt! I can wear this shirt to advocate for bats any time I want. Think of all the possibilities!

How would you like to get more ideas on how to use Sublimation Markers? There’s a Facebook Group that’s just for fans of Artesprix! You can click HERE to join. Also, don’t forget to visit the Artesprix store to see all of the available blanks and bundles, so you can get started with sublimation. You can use my discount code, ALISON10 to save 10%. Thanks so much for stopping by. Have an inspiring day!