How to Design Your Own Sweatshirt with Iron-On Transfers

What You Need

• Sweatshirt or T-shirt
• Transfer paper / iron-on paper
• Printer
• Iron
• Scissors
• Design or artwork
• Baking paper or protective sheet

Helpful design tools include Canva, Adobe Photoshop or Procreate.

1. Choose the Right Sweatshirt

First you need a sweatshirt or T-shirt where your design will be applied.

• Cotton works best
• The fabric should be smooth
• Wash new clothing once before applying the design

Tip: Light and dark sweatshirts require different types of transfer paper.

2. Choose the Right Transfer Paper

Transfer paper usually comes in two versions:

3. Choose or Create a Design

Now you need a design for your sweatshirt.

• Create your own design
• Use clipart or digital artwork
• Design something in Canva

Choose a design that fits the style you want to create. If you are making items to sell, start with commercial-use artwork and test it on your material first.

4. Apply the Iron-On Design

Place the design with the printed side facing down onto the sweatshirt. Put baking paper or protective paper on top.

Set the iron to a high temperature (without steam) and iron the design evenly for about 3–5 minutes.

• Apply even pressure
• Move the iron slowly
• Make sure every area is heated properly
• After ironing, let the transfer cool down for about 5 minutes before removing the paper