Christmas crafters love to make homemade gifts. I made this Resting Grinch Face T shirt for Cordelia. Don’t worry she knows. I used a set of monster eyes and made the mouth out of basic shapes. It turned out great!
Whether working with HTV or regular vinyl there are some techniques that make it a little easier. But first if you want the design it is in my downloads
What you will need
- Green HTV and another color for the lettering
- something to put it on
- Iron or Easy Press
- Download File
Cutting
This Resting Grinch face shirt is done in two colors. The mouth and eyes need to be green but the lettering is up to you.
If you only knew how many times I have cut the wrong side of HTV. LOL. I use a pick to separate a very small part of the HTV in a space I am going to weed anyway. It is easy to tell which side is the HTV and which side is the “paper”. Put the “paper” side down. BTW if you ever cut the wrong side, just turn it over and re-cut. Most brands the backing is thick enough that you didn’t cut all the way through it anyway. It makes weeding a little more difficult because you now have two images, one reversed on the wrong side, but at least the vinyl isn’t wasted.
Weeding
Once the Resting Grinch Face pattern is all cut, you need to weed it. I have a Cricut Bright Pad. They are about $48 at amazon. You need some type of light source to put under the project. Before I got the Brightpad, I used a LED lamp , a bowl and a piece of glass. It wasn’t high tech but it worked. Any light pad will work. You can find others (smaller) on Amazon for under $20.
Also you will need a sharp pick. I have a set from Harbor Freight that cost 2 or 3 dollars. I have just found a pinpen from 651vinyl.com that works great. While you are there look at the weeding ring. It is great! I used to stick the weeded vinyl to my hand but my skin had a reaction to the sticky. The weeding ring solved that.
Ironing
I have an Easypress but an Iron will work too. With the EasyPress, the instruction book has some setting but you can find a form a here that tells you the proper heat setting. It tells you the temp you need for most HTV types and material. I love this page! I use it all the time. With an iron set and the highest setting without steam.
Start by warming the area you are going to put the design on then place the design where you want it. Put the lettering on first. It is bigger and easier to center. Then you can place the eyes and mouth at the same time. Be sure to cover the whole design while pressing the eyes and mouth.
Press fairly hard on the design in segments. Use a lot of pressure. You are trying to melt the material and force it between the fibers. After you have pressed each area, go over the whole design slowly a few times. If it doesn’t stick well try again. If you use glitter vinyl, it is very difficult to melt. This make take a few tries.
After it cools and I’ve taken the paper off, I always repress the design just to make sure it seals. Use parchment paper between the iron and your design.
And your Resting Grinch Face T-shirt gift is done.
Grinch Fun Facts
- Jack Nicholson and Eddie Murphy auditioned for the title role of The Grinch before Jim Carrey was cast.
- In Dr. Seuss’ original story book, the Grinch is black and white with pink eyes
- Dr. Seuss’ book was originally published in 1957 by Random House.
- Boris Karloff narrated “How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Although Karloff had a successful cinema resume, he was most famous for his role as Frankenstein
- The song “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” was sung for the special by Thurl Ravenscroft, the actor who gave voice to Tony the Tiger in Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes commercials from 1952 until 2005.
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