Supplies:
- Sequence pillow of other sequence item you want to put words or an image on. The two pillows I used came from Dollar Tree. They are about 9 x 9 inches.
- Either infusible ink vinyl or infusible ink pens. If you use the infusible ink pens, then you will also need a piece of laser printer paper.
- Parchment paper. This is used to protect your piece from the direct heat, that will be applied to it. Some infusible ink vinyl comes with parchment paper.
- Easy press or iron or something to apply heat consistently with some pressure.
For this project to work you will need to use an infusible ink, because it fusses with the sequences. Regular vinyl sits on top of the material, and will thus come off over time with the movement of the sequences. I have tested both the infusible ink vinyl as well as the infusible ink pens and will show you how to use both.
Infusible Ink Vinyl
The first step is to make your design. I decided to go with mostly words in my design. When working with words, I recommend using a thicker font. In my first attempt I tried a very thin font, and it did not show up as well as I would have liked it too. Even smaller pieces in a design will not show up as well. I also recommend trying to use darker colors for the best results. I also found that lighter colored sequences work best. So, make sure to put your design on the lighter colored side. I found that white sequences show the design better than silver.
If you have trouble deciding what size to make your design, then I recommend cutting a piece of scrap paper to the desired size and laying it on your pillow to help you visualize the size of your design.
Once you have your design figured out, it is time to make it. If you are using the infusible ink vinyl, then it will be easier to have a Cricut or other cutting machine to cut out your design. When cutting out your design, especially if it contains words, then it is important to mirror your image. When working with my Cricut Maker, it reminded me to mirror my image after I selected infusible ink transfer sheet as my material. I used the blue mat with the fine point tool that came with the machine.
This was my first time working with the infusible ink vinyl. It is thicker than I expected it to be. Mine may have been a little old as well. I purchased it on sale and it did not seem to want to weed well. The color of the vinyl will be a bit lighter, but will then darken up once the heat is applied. Mine did not darken up quite as much as I expected it too. This may have been due to it being older or my small iron I used as my heat source. This was also my first time using this iron. So, some inexperience and learning may have also affected the darkness of the color at the end.
Once your design is cut out and you have weeded out all the area you do not want in your design, then place your design face down on you lighter colored sequence side. I then applied a few pieces of Cricut heat resistant tape. This tape is meant to help hold your piece in place as you apply the heat, but the tape will not melt with the heat. The tape did not seem to stick well to the sequences, but it did help a little. Next, place your parchment paper over your design. The Cricut infusible ink vinyl came with two sheets of parchment paper. Once your heat source is heated up, apply a bit of pressure with your heat source to your parchment paper/design. Depending on your heat source will depend on the amount of heat/setting you will want to use as well as the amount of time you should hold the heat in place. I turned my small iron to max and held it for about 40 seconds. Since my design was bigger than my iron, I had to repeat this several times to ensure my entire design was covered.
Now reveal your design and try moving the sequences. Just be careful as they may still be hot. Also note that the sequences will not always lay in the exact same position every time. So, the design may not look perfect after it has been moved a bit.
The design I did first was very thin, and thus did not turn out as dark as I would have liked. The heart turned out pretty good, but the words were difficult to read. So, for my second test I decided to change the font. I chose a thicker font this time, and went with a darker color. I think the purple would have been okay on the white sequences, but it did not show up as well on the silver.
Infusible Ink Pens
For this next pillow I used the infusible ink pens by Cricut. These pens only work with laser printer paper, because laser printers use heat to print. This printer paper is not too expensive, and you do not need the laser printer itself. You can have a Cricut machine drawl your design for you, or you can drawl directly on your laser paper. Just do not forget to mirror your image. So, if you are hand drawling your design and it contains words, then you will need to write them backwards. For my design I had my Cricut machine draw the outlines of my letters and design, then I colored in my letters and heart. You will need to select drawl as the line type before selecting make it. I selected copy paper as my median.
When inserting these markers into slot A of your Cricut machine, make sure the arrow is pointing forward. Then press the pen down until it clicks and the arrow is no longer visible.
Once your design is drawn out, place it face down on your lighter colored sequences. Then place the parchment paper over your design and apply your heat source. Make sure your heat source is all the way heated up first, and apply a bit of pressure for a few seconds. The temperature of your heat source, and how long to hold it will depend on the type of heat source you use. I put my small iron to max and held it in place for 40 seconds. I then repeated this till my entire design was done. The ink from my design started to bleed through the parchment paper, and onto my iron. So, just be careful not to get the ink on things. If you reuse this parchment paper, the ink may transfer to the new design. So, I recommend using a new piece of parchment paper so there is no contamination.
You are able to immediately remove everything from your sequences and move the sequences around. Just be careful as they will still be hot. Also note that the sequences will not always lay in the exact same place every time. So, your design may not be perfect after it has been moved a bit.
This was such a fun project to try. I could not wait to reveal my design to see if it worked. These will make great gifts for kids or adults. You could probably do a second design on the darker color sequences, but it would probably not show up as well. Maybe a lighter color will show up on a very dark color of sequences. The design does show through the sequences a little.
Since my first pillow did not show up well, I decided to retrace and color in my infusible ink pen design from the second pillow. I was happy to find that reusing this design worked well. It transferred nicely to my pillow and showed up better than the light thin purple design I originally had. You can still see a bit of the thin purple design. So, it is not perfect, but it is good to know that you can reuse a design by just retracing it again with the infusible ink pens.
Do not worry, this will not be the last time I play with infusible ink. So, keep an eye out for more down the road.
