I have been itching to create an iron-on vinyl project with my Cricut Maker. We have used felt, permanent vinyl and we have done loads of paper crafts for our Cricut Maker projects but iron-on was the next big thing for me to conquer. My chance came when Olivia needed a costume for fairytale day at school… and she decided to dress up as the Gingerbread Man.
The Gingerbread Man costume DIY that I have created is very simple and cute to boot! I have used a quote from the book on the back of the shirt and decorated the front with a bow-tie, buttons and zig-zag lines.
I managed to find the perfect brown leggings at Cotton On Kids – although see my note on them in my Cricut iron-on how to tips at the bottom of this post – and purchased a plain white tee from Target. For the bag, I cut up an oversized brown men’s tee and stitched it together, copying a bag we already had at home.
The benefit of this costume is that it doesn’t have to be relegated to the dress-up box when book week or Halloween is over. Each piece work as separates to add to your kid’s wardrobe. Winning!
Gingerbread Man Costume DIY
You will need:
- Iron-on Vinyl in your choice of colours (I used Cricut Everyday Iron-On Vinyl in pink, purple and red for the tee, Cricut Everyday Iron-On Vinyl in white for the pants plus Circut Glitter Iron-On in white for the bag)
- White long-sleeve top
- Brown leggings or pants
- Optional: Brown fabric bag (If you aren’t making the bag, simply delete the large white gingerbread man from the Design Space project)
Instructions
1. Edit the various elements in the Cricut Design Space project to fit your items of clothing. Changing the sizes and colours of elements is very simple in Design Space. You can also choose how many of the zig-zag lines you want to create I used two pink and one red zig-zag on each sleeve of the t-shirt, one large pink zig-zag across the front of the t-shirt and three white zig-zags across the bottom of each leg of the leggings.
2. Cut out the iron-on vinyl and weed the excess from each sheet. I found weeding the iron-on vinyl much simpler than regular vinyl. It peels off the transfer sheet like a dream!
3. Now comes the fun part – ironing the vinyl onto the clothing. I used the Cricut EasyPress to do this but you can also use an iron or a heat press. You can find the Cricut EasyPress settings here. See below for some more Cricut iron-on how to tips.
4. And done! This is a really simple Gingerbread Man Costume DIY that you can whip up in under an hour.
Cricut iron-on how to
This was my first project using Cricut iron-on vinyl… and I have to say that I loved using it. It glides off the transfer paper and seals well to the clothing. But, here a few tips to help you get it right the first time:
- Take your time when laying out each piece and if you are pressing multiple pieces at the same time, check that you aren’t pressing on top of the transfer sheet of another piece
- I pre-washed the clothing I was pressing on to as this is recommended for Cricut iron-on vinyl. You also need to wait 24 hours after applying the vinyl before washing and should always wash on cold with the garment inside out
- Be sure to apply enough pressure and follow the Cricut EasyPress settings guide if you are using the EasyPress
- When you cut iron-on vinyl in your Cricut, place it on the mat transfer side down. You will also need to mirror the design in Design Space
- If you are wrapping iron-on vinyl around a sleeve, don’t make the same mistake I did and press half of the strip onto the mat your shirt is lying on… remember that wherever you are applying heat, the iron-on vinyl will stick!
- The leggings that I used for this project have a raised pattern on them. I found that the iron-on didn’t stick as well as with the other items. It’s best to stick with flat items and avoid placing the vinyl too close to seams
So that’s my simple Gingerbread Man costume DIY. The perfect Gingerbread Man Halloween costume or book week costume. I would love to know if you make it!
Be sure to check out my other Cricut Maker projects. The Cricut Maker and Cricut EasyPress are available at Spotlight and craftonline.com.au.
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