Welcome back to the craft room and today’s Halloween T-shirts with HTVRont Auto Press post. About a month ago I decided to purchase the HTVRont Auto Heat Press. Today I would like to share with you my thoughts on the machine and two Halloween T-shirts. There are a lot of unboxing and review videos on YouTube, which is where I got the idea to purchase the machine. I’ve used my household iron or Cricut Mini Heat Press on the shirts I’ve made so far with Heat Transfer Vinyl, (HTV). Both work, but on larger projects, not very well. Let’s chat about the heat press.
HTVRont Auto Heat Press
What I really liked about this heat press over some of the others, is the ease with which the machine works. There are no handles to manipulate so upper body strength isn’t needed. The drawback to that is that the pressure is set by the Auto Press and can only be adjusted by adding another pressing pillow. The best part in my opinion is the auto open and close feature and the pull out plate. That makes it very easy to create amazing HTV projects.
Having never used an actual heat press before, the HTVRont Auto Press is intuitive. It’s a simple step to raise or lower the temperature and time. There are 4 preset time and temperature modes, as well as an option to create 2 of your own preset modes. The auto press feature is also an option that you can utilize if you like. If not, then as soon as you press the plate back in, you will have to hit the “R” button to lower the heat plate. At the end of the set time, the plate will automatically raise.
Let me show you my Halloween t-shirts with the HTVRont Auto Press.
Halloween T-shirts
Resting Witch Face
The idea for this shirt had been floating around my mind for a while. Upon finding out I had to go into work on my day off for an 8 am meeting last week, I knew I had to make this shirt for that morning. It started with a trip to Creative Fabrica for a witch face SVG. I found the perfect one; Witch Face Svg, Resting Witch Face Svg. The text needed to match, so I found the font Goghonri from Creative Fabrica that fit perfectly.
While I loved the witch face, the design in my head only called for half of it. In Affinity Designer 2 for iPad, I used a simple rectangle to slice away the left side of the face. To the right of that I added the text ”Resting Witch Face”. The image was cut from black Cricut Everyday Iron-On and pressed onto the Gildan shirt at 315 degrees for 30 seconds. After removing the liner I placed a Teflon sheet over the image and pressed it again for another 30 seconds.
This shirt turned out great and it’s perfect for me!! I have been told on more than one occasion that I have have a “resting #itch face” anyway!
Tonight We Ride
My second Halloween t-shirt was an idea that also kicked round in my head for a while. The main idea behind this shirt was figuring out how to create the elements myself. Yes I did find many broom designs at Creative Fabrica, but I didn’t want to go that route. It took me a little bit of time to realize that the broom is created with two basic shapes, a long rectangle for the handle, and a circle/oval, triangle, or even another rectangle for the straw portion.
Creating the Design in Affinity Designer
In Affinity Designer 2 for iPad I started with the broom handle. Creating a long thin rectangle, I turned on the nodes and started adjusting them to add dips and bumps along the length. A node is “used to select and manipulate a point to be able to precisely modify the shape”. To create the straw portion of the broom I created an oval shape. To age the end of the broom, I created a few very thin triangles and “cut” away part of the shape. As with the broom handle, I manipulated the nodes to add shape and character. Below you can see the final image used to create the SVG file.
To continue with the idea in my head, I added the text “Tonight We Ride” with the font, Irish King from Creative Fabrica. I wanted to angle the design to show motion. The image below shows the final design in Cricut Design Space ready to cut from Everyday Iron-On vinyl. I created a box around the design so I would know exactly how much vinyl I would need so I wouldn’t waste any.
I placed my Gildan t-shirt on the base plate of the HTVRont Auto Press and warmed it for 10 seconds to remove any creases or extra moisture from the shirt. The design was placed about 3 fingers down from the neckline and I pressed at 315 degrees for 30 seconds. After removing the liner, I added the teflon sheet and pressed it again for another 30 seconds.
Adding To The Design
Sadly I wasn’t as happy with this shirt. It may have been the design, the shirt color, or the size of the shirt. It was mostly the design though. I put the shirt away for a few days and thought about a way to fix it. I decided to add a witch hat as well as stars, but again, didn’t want to use someone else’s design for the hat. Using inspiration from a few different images found during a google search, I was able to create my own design, and again it all began with simple shapes. The main hat is a triangle and the brim, another oval.
In the image above I have, on the left, the original hat shape after adjusting the nodes and removing small portions to add texture. It didn’t look finished so I continued by adding the illusion of a ribbon and buckle. So much better, but it still didn’t finish the look. So to add even more interest, I tried adding some different shaped stars. In the image below you can see the finished and cut design. The stars were created with simple 4 point stars and 6 pointed double stars, adjusted with the use of nodes.
This addition to the shirt topped it off and the design is perfect now!
Halloween Wrap Up
Thank you so much for joining me for today’s Halloween T-shirts With HTVRont Auto Press post. Both of these shirts are now perfect! I love that I will be able to wear the Resting Witch Face shirt year round. Yes it seems to be a holiday specific type design, but when you have a natural “resting *#$&@ face” it’s perfect.
The second shirt will need to be remade next year. I have already united both of the designs into a single SVG file. This way I will be able to place the design lower on the shirt. The original image was placed three fingers down but with the addition of the stars and hat, it’s much too high.
I absolutely love the HTVRont Auto Heat Press! It is so simple to use and the only adjustments needed are the time and temperature. I understand there might be issues with the pressure, but so far I have not experienced that. If there is ever a problem with that I have heard that adding another pressing pillow will fix those issues.
Have you created any Halloween crafts this year? Let me know in the comments below, I would love to hear all about them! I have two other Cricut Everyday Iron-on projects on the blog if you would like to take a look, God BlessAmerica HTV T-shirts and Show ‘n Tell Birthday Gift and Card. Until then have a fantastic week and I will see you in the craft room again soon!
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