Artesprix Apron with Text (& What not to do!)

Hello Creative! I’m Rita Barakat, a mixed media artist, and I love decorating aprons, color and anything creative! Today I am bringing you a floral apron with a scripture. You can also do a favorite quote or song lyrics!  You will also get some tips on what not to do (yes I learned the hard way, but you can learn from my mistakes!)

What are Artesprix Sublimation Markers?

Artesprix markers enable you to draw on regular printer paper and transfer it onto sublimation blank materials such as aprons, t-shirts, tumblers and more!

Materials:

• Sublimation Markers 
• Apron Blank of the Month
• Heat Press or Household Iron
• Heat Tape
• Protective Siliconized Paper
• Copy Paper 
• Pencils
• Scissors

Step-by-Step Tutorial:

Step 1. Create a template with pencil for your project, pencil doesn’t transfer, and it will be less likely that it marks up your blank. Since our Blank is bigger than a piece of copy paper I did not trace the blank like traditional Artesprix projects.

Tip: Set your Heat Press to 400 F and set the time to 60 seconds.

Step 2. Color!

Tip #1: All sublimation requires mirrored text which is important to remember when creating your design. You can use stencils, a tracing lighting pad or a cutting machine to help you with this task. Tips on what not to do - iron it without checking that the lettering must be mirrored! I can’t tell you how many times I did all the things, took a peek and realized I forgot this step! Yikes!

Tip #2: When coloring, use the markers in different directions, colored lightly in some areas and saturated the color in others to get lots of variety in your final piece! 

Step 3: Tape your Iron-on-Ink designs face down to your blank, positioning them as desired.

Tip #1: Do not cut your copy paper down too much as you need to leave room for your heat tape. If you place heat tape near your design it could affect the transfer.

Tip #2: Note, no heat tape is covering the flowers. 

Tip #3: When using a heat press, only a couple pieces of tape is necessary. If using a home iron or crafting iron, keep your designs small and use more heat tape should be applied to prevent any shifting during the transfer process.

Step 5: Make a Sublimation Sandwich. Now that all of your designs are secured with heat tape as desired face down to the blank, place a piece of protective paper on the top and bottom of your Apron. This should give you a "Sublimation Sandwich".

Tip: Your protective paper should be larger than your copy paper/design. 

Step 6: Time to Transfer! Double check Time, Temperature, and Pressure before doing your transfer. The design should be secured face down on the top side of your sandwich, with 2 pieces of protective paper on the outside of your secured design.

Step 7:  Peek test! Oh my goodness how exciting! I love to see that color! Before we do the big reveal, without moving any tape peel it back one corner of your design and see if you got a good transfer! It is so much brighter than the markers before heating! If you did not get a bright and vivid transfer, check your "Sublimation Sandwich" set up, time, temperature, and pressure settings and re-press. 

Step 8: For this project I had to do different sections of the apron at a time because my heat platen is only 9" x 12". So when I finished the flowers and started the entire  process over with the words. 

Tip: Your design should not be bigger than your heated surface. Home Iron users should keep their designs small and practice a tiling technique.

This scripture was a little longer so I had to do the written part on two pieces of paper. It took a little longer to get all the elements but it was well worth it! Don’t you agree? 

Step 9: The Big Reveal! 

Heads Up!: Artesprix advises you can reuse the Protective Paper if there is no Ink on it. Be sure to check your pieces carefully before using for a second time. My advice is to hold it up to a light to be safe, otherwise you might be like me and think there is nothing there when in actuality there is a faint ink residual. With items that are not double sided like the Textured Coasters, you can reuse a piece of protective paper with ink on it for the non white side of the coaster.

Overall I think it was a success and a learning process, don’t you agree? I would love to hear your tips and tips on what not to do! Leave them in the comments below! And if you decide to make an apron please leave us a link below, we would LOVE to see it!

 Thanks for checking in, see you next time!
Rita Barakat 

P.S. The Inspirational Facebook Group is a great way to see others’ creations and to share yours too! 

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