A personalised draw string bag is great for kids at school and for after school clubs. In this tutorial I’m going to show you how to personalise a draw string bag step by step by adding heat transfer vinyl.
For this craft you are going to need the following items:
Scissors
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Getting Started
Get started by chosing the bag that you want to use and deciding on the name and design that you want on the front.
Open design space and open up a new project. Clicked on the text sign at the side of the screen and this will open up a text box. Type in the name that you require.
Selecting the Font
As default the font will be a cricut sans. If you wish you can change the font. To do this click on the box and it will take you to all the fonts that are available from cricut. If you have bought or downloaded fonts from the likes of font bundles and you wish to use these then click on system and this will then list all the fonts that are on your computer.
The font I used was Alesand Round which I had previously purchased from Font Bundles, but you can use any text of your choice.
To change the size of the text head up to the size box and type in the width you want the name to be. If the padlock is locked then the height will be changed in proportion.
I changed the width of my name to be 8" and so design space changed the height to be 1.494".
Selecting the Design
For the design I used a picture of a gymnast that I had already purchased from Design Bundles. Download the design to your computer and select the design you want. Once the design is in recent uploads, click on the design and a green box will appear around the design. Next click on add to canvas in the bottom left corner.
Sizing
Next we need to look at the sizing for the name and the design. I like the name for these bags to be 8’’ long as that fits nicely on the front of the bag. For the design I feel that 6” high was a good size. Play about with the size of the name and design and make them any size you wish.
Once you have your name and design sized as you want them it’s time to think about cutting the design. I like to try and save as much space as possible as this also saves vinyl. I like to spin my name around so its upright and fits at the side of my shape. This allows me to use as little vinyl as possible.
Attach the name and the design together by clicking select all so that Cricut will cut them the way you have decided. A box will appear around the design when they have been selected.
Use the attach icon in the bottom right to attach them together. This will keep them both together when they are sent to the cricut ready to be cut.
Cutting the name and design
Check that the correct machine you are using is selected and click on 'make it' in the top right corner. This will take you to the next screen which will show your design on the mat.
As we are using Heat transfer vinyl you will need to mirror the image. You do this by pressing on the mirror button under where it says Mirror.
Once mirror is selected the button will turn green. Your design will also flip over on the mat. Press continue.
Design space will now start to connect to your cricut cutting machine. Next select the material you wish to use.
For this project I selected premium vinyl as this cut’s my vinyl really well and I also changed my pressure to more to get the best cut possible.
Place the heat transfer vinyl on the mat with the shiny side down in the top left corner. Your design will be cut from this side.
Load your mat into your machine by clicking on the flashing arrow button. The cricut button will then start to flash. Press the flashing cricut button and the machine will start the cutting process.
Once the machine has finished cutting the arrow button will start flashing again. To eject the mat just press the flashing button.
To remove the vinyl from the mat the best way to do this to avoid the vinyl curling up is to turn the mat over. Peel the mat away from the vinyl carefully as you don’t want to crack your mat!
Weeding time
Next you need to weed out your design. Take your weeding tool and start to peel away all the excess vinyl just leaving the name and design.
Adding the design
For the final stage we now need to heat press the design onto the front of the bag. I used my cricut easy press for this. I heated the heat press up to a temperature of 160 degrees centigrade. Prepare the bag by heat pressing it for 10 seconds to remove any moisture that may be in the bag.
Next line up your design. I have found the placement of the name looks best 10 cms from the bottom of the bag. This also allows plenty of room for the design to be placed on top. This will allow the bag to still look good when it is full of stuff and the bag is closed.
When you are happy with the placement of the name and design, apply the heat press and apply pressure onto the bag for 30 seconds. To cover all the design, you may need to move the heat press around and repeat the process again.
Carefully start to remove the protective sheet from the vinyl. I like to do this slowly starting in the corner. If the vinyl is lifting up then just pop the protective sheet back down and press the design again and that should do the trick.
Once the design if fully adhered then your bag is all complete and ready to use.
To watch how I made my bag head just click on the video below.
If you enjoyed this blog you might want to take a look at how I made a Personalised Tote bag.
See you soon
Lisa x