Iron on Glitter

Is there anyone on this planet that doesn't like glitter?

Recently, I went searching for some iron on glitter.  I really only wanted a little piece to decorate Ava's birthday dress.  As is so often the case, I ended up buying 4m of the stuff!  The shop I found it at only sells by the metre and the postage to product cost ratio made absolutely no sense to buy any less.

I ended up buying 2 lengths of the glitter version: gold and purple and 2 lengths of the sparkle version: pink and purple.  It is 50cm wide, so this stuff is going to last a looooooong time!  There were so many other iron ons to choose from - flock, metallic, neon....  It was hard to limit myself to just a few.  But, sparkles is what I was after so sparkles is what I bought.

** Something worth mentioning: they say that their vinyl is intended to be fixed with a heat press, not a domestic iron.  I say that I have washed and scratched at the glitter version and it is staying stuck.  Do what you like with their guidance, at your own risk **

Ok...so this is how I did the '4'.

Print your template and tape it to the vinyl.  The glitter vinyl has a clear vinyl over the top of the glitter.  Keep that on until after ironing.  I used my rotary cutter to slice the straighter lines.  I think that my rotary blade is a little sharper after cutting this!

This is what the back side looked like after cutting with my rotary blade.  I then peeled the template off and cut the curvy corners and edges with my scissors.

Take your bits to your ironing board and position your neatly cut vinyl piece where you want it.  Crank your iron up to its maximum heat setting (assuming that you are ironing on to natural fabric).  Place a thin piece of plainly woven cotton fabric over the top - you want lots of heat to get through that fabric layer.  My 4 was perfectly sized to sit under my iron without needing to slide the iron around to cover all edges, so I placed my iron over my 4 and counted to 15.  My 15 count was probably quicker than 15 seconds.  For extra sticking security, I then slid my iron around the 4 for a few more seconds.

While your glitter vinyl is still hot, peel back the clear topping (please excuse that chipped purple finger nail!).

*Optional: run around the house with crazy excitement showing everyone your amazing glittery fabric*

For the sparkle vinyl, follow the same steps, except that it doesn't have a clear top layer, so no peeling is necessary.  Also, if your iron is like mine and has indents on its ironing surface - keep the iron moving when sticking your transfer down.  My iron has circle indents and I ended up with a strange ghost bubble on the heart transfer.  A little more ironing and most of it went away - but not all of it.

I like the glitter vinyl much more than the sparkle vinyl. The glittery one has a much softer handle on the fabric; the sparkly one is very 'vinyl' when it is ironed on.

The 4 dress was intended to be a birthday present - Ava turns 4 in 2 weeks time.  But, little miss eagle eyes saw me sewing and then stalked me to finish it so that she could wear it.  Seriously - she walked around pretty much naked for the last 20 mins of me sewing and ironing!!!  I guess now I have to come up with an alternative birthday dress plan!

Her heart dress is a dress that I made ages ago.  Now it has an obvious front to it, to help her put it on the right way around :)

Have you played around with any fancy iron on vinyls - metallic...flocked....others?  How did you find them?

************************************* Edited to add....actually the sparkly version also has a clear top to it.  We only noticed about 4 hours after Ava put her dress on this morning that there was a clear peel-able layer there!  So actually - the sparkly version isn't as stiff as I originally thought.  It still doesn't have as soft a handle as the glitter version, but it is much, much better than my original impression **************