How to Personalise a Tote Bag for Pride

Use the link in the description to open the project in Cricut Design Space or visit https://design.cricut.com/landing/project-detail/64391e898d033b56e8316f27

Clicking the link in the description will take you to your canvas on Cricut Design Space. If you're using a 43 x 38cm tote bag, like we have, click 'make it'. To change the size of the design choose 'customise' - this will take you to the canvas and allow you to alter the size of the design if needed.

There is a guide line that corresponds to the size of the bag, which can be changed to suit the size of the bag you're personalising. If you are choosing to change the size of the design, make sure to adjust the height and width of your desired size.

Because we're using iron-on vinyl, we need to mirror the image to save us time in the long run. The best thing to do is to select the edit button and then click on the horizontal option. This is going to flip the design all at once ensuring that it shows correctly on the bag.

Once you're happy with the size of the design, you can click 'make it'. 

If you have the Cricut Maker 3 or Explore 3 it will ask you how you want to cut the design - choose 'on mat'.

The hand portion of the design is slightly bigger than a 12 x 12 mat. If you don't have access to a 12 x 24 mat, you can reduce the size of the design to fit onto a 12 x 12 mat.

The design is now ready to be cut, click the 'next' button and this will take you to the screen where you determine the material being cut. Select the 'everyday iron-on' option.

Because we flipped the image horizontally on the canvas we don't have to worry about mirroring the image at this point.

Now that everything is ready to go, gather all the vinyls necessary to complete the design - make the most of using scraps where you can! A light grip or standard grip cutting mat can be used with iron-on vinyl.

Place the vinyl that corresponds to the colour displayed on the Cricut Design Space app onto the mat. There should be 11 colours in total to be loaded into your machine.

When ready, place them into the machine and click on the 'load' button, this will feed them and the vinyl into the machine. Then click the Cricut button, this will start off the cutting process.

Repeat the process for all 11 colours.

With everything cut out, now gather all the colours together and start to weed them. Before doing this, we recommend cutting around the design to avoid wasting vinyl.

Use a weeding tool to weed the designs.

With all the elements of the design weeded, we can now turn on our heat press and set the temperature to 170 degrees for 30 seconds. 

If you're using a material other than cotton, you might have to adjust the temperature (the Cricut Heat Guide provides information on what is best for different materials).

Start by pressing and removing any creases on the bag that you're personalising.

To ensure that you're placing the inside design correctly, place the hands element onto the bag and lift the bag up to see if you're happy with the positioning of it. 

As the rainbow heart gets transferred first and hands last, you will need to mark the bag where the inside design will sit. Using a heat erasable pen, mark the top and bottom of the inside hand section to ensure you place the heart in the right place.

With the area marked out on the bag, you can now start pressing the colours one by one, starting with the red first. Make sure you are placing it in the correct place on the bag then place the heat press on top.

Press the Cricut button and the countdown will begin, apply slight pressure to the heat press and if you're using a mini press ensure that you are constantly moving it over the area.

Once you have pressed the first section, ensure that it has cooled completely before removing the carrier sheet. This will help with the removal of the backing.

Once the first colour is placed, take your time to position the orange section close to the red section. This process will be repeated for all of the colours.

Make sure that you keep the backing sheet of the previous colour and cover that before pressing the new colour. You never want to apply the heat press onto uncovered vinyl. 

Repeat these steps until the full flag is complete.

Refer back to the canvas if you need to for the placement of the colours.

Now that you have all the colours placed, you can add the hands on top of the design. Before pressing, ensure that the hands are aligned with the heart correctly.

Use the heat press to secure the hands design. Allow the design to cool then remove the carrier sheet.

Your tote bag is now complete and ready to be worn with pride at your celebrations this June!