How to foil on fabrics using decofoil

So, this deco foil project has been on my to-do list for a long time and I finally got to trying it this week. I know that the Deco foil brand has a product called 'hot melt adhesive' to use with deco foil transfer sheets. I got a pack of 5 transfer sheets one and half years ago I think. For some reason, I always wanted to test these transfer sheets using heat n bond iron on adhesive that I already had on hand because 'Hot melt adhesive' looks so similar to the heat n bond iron adhesive that I don't want to hoard one more product just for one project.  I haven't seen the product in person but I am just guessing it from the product description. So let's see if it worked or not.

Materials used:

Plain T-shirt

Heat n bond iron on adhesive Ultra hold

Silhouette cutting machine(Optional) 

Deco foil transfer sheets

Iron

Step 1: This step is totally optional. I had a round neck collar T-shirt which I did not like.So, I pinned the collar together and made cut one inch below the already existing neckline. Then folded the seam and stitched it to make the neck wider. 

Step 2: Use your electronic cutting machine if you have one or use scissors or craft knife to cut your own design on the heat n bond sheet. I used the paper side facing up(adhesive side down) and stuck onto the cutting mat(I used the sticky mat that is used for vinyl). Used the settings shown below to cut the design. The cut was perfect except that it some areas I had to weed the adhesive part manually. 

Note: I did test cut by sticking the adhesive side up and it failed. I recommend you to test cut both the ways before cutting your main design just to make sure.If the adhesive side up works best for you, don't forget to mirror your design. 

Step 3: After weeding the heat n bond sheets, place it centered in the area you want on the t-shirt and Iron. Note that the iron should not be in the steam settings. I used number 3 setting which is polyester+Nylon for ironing both the heat n bond and the deco foil transfer sheets. After ironing, remove the white paper so that the adhesive exposes. 

Step 4: Place the deco foil transfer sheets above the adhesive. For the design I used, I needed two sheets, so I slightly overlapped the sheets so that the entire design is covered with foil. Use parchment paper on the top of the foil and iron using the same settings for 20 to 30 seconds. Allow the sheets to cool for some time and then carefully peel the sheets to reveal the transferred foil. 

When I peeled the bottom sheet I was so happy that it worked but the top part did not work as expected. I did not know what went wrong there because I did everything as per instructions. You can see below that the foil did not transfer in some places.

I badly wanted this project to work, so I took another sheet and repeated the process again. I did this in a doubt whether it will work or not. But hey there is nothing wrong in trying, right? To the surprise, it worked. But, I still had doubt whether it will withstand the wash. The brand recommends hand wash or machine wash in cold water, delicate cycle and tumble dry low. My machine did not have a delicate cycle so I did a quick wash by turning the shirt inside out with a couple of other clothes and dried it for few minutes. 

The reveal: I would say, after washing the foil seemed wrinkly and had few very tiny spots where the foil came off. Maybe, I should not have washed it in my machine without the delicate cycle and should have just hand washed it. But I am happy that there was no major fail as the whole foil itself coming off or something like that. The shirt still looks fabulous and I am happy that it worked. 

After washing! 

I would recommend this technique for any decor items such a decorative pillow cover or a fabric wall art or something that doesn't need frequent washing as apparels. I would prefer this iron-on adhesive for the bigger projects as they come in yards and easy to make a larger design like this. Even though there are many other options to apply these foil, if you don't want to spend extra money on buying a new product and if you have these iron on adhesive already at home, this project is worth a try. You can even try these with iron-on adhesive tapes to add some strips to your home decor projects. 

Share what you think in the comments below. As always I will happy to hear from you. 

Other DIY projects you might like, 

Gold foil Wall art using Laminator

DIY Color Changing T-shirt

DIY T-shirt Makeover

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