Shirts for Readers with Cricut Iron On

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I have always loved reading, especially when I was a kid. I frequently stayed up way too late at night because I just had to finish the book I was reading. I have a couple of kids that are pretty big readers, especially my oldest and youngest daughters, and it makes me so happy. My oldest daughter stopped by her school library on a daily basis last year to check out books. At the end of the school year she asked the librarian how many books she had checked out that school year and it was over 200! And she hasn't slowed down this school year either. She usually has more than one book that she is reading at a time, which I don't understand at all because I can only handle one book at a time. The table by her bed always has a stack of books on it. 

For my 9 year old daughter her love of reading is a little bit more of a recent discovery. I feel like this school year especially she has really discovered the joy of books. She has always been a really good reader, but a few months ago she discovered a series of books that she loved and just couldn't read fast enough. Now she continues to read a lot and it is fun to watch her finding stories that she likes and hearing her talk about her latest reads. 

With her recent obsession with reading I thought it would be fun to make her a couple of reading themed shirts. I had something specific in mind and looked in Cricut Design Space to see if I could find some of the elements I was looking for to create the designs I wanted. I wanted some designs that incorporated books and flowers, and I ended up finding a lot of them. 

There were tons of options to choose from, including the Reading is Magical design that I ended up using. That one was already complete and I used it exactly as it was, just resized to fit the shirt I was making. My daughter saw that one and insisted that be one of the designs I made for her. She loves stories with magic and fantasy so she felt like that was a very fitting design for her. 

For the I'd Rather be Reading design I started with the floral book design and added the words, then attached everything so it would stay together. 

I also had another design with a stack of books with flowers, and a phrase "just one more chapter", two elements that were also found in Design Space. But I let my daughter choose 2 (because that is how many sweatshirts I had for her) and she didn't choose that one. 

I think they turned out being the perfect cozy shirts for my little reader, and she loves them which is the most important thing for me. 

How to Make Shirts for Readers with Iron On

You will need:

• Cricut Maker or Explore
• Iron On in desired color (I used Cricut Everyday Iron On in White, and Smart Iron On in Black)
• EasyPress
• EasyPress Mat
• Blank Sweatshirts (or T-Shirts)

Instructions:

Begin by opening the Reading Themed Sweatshirt Design Space Project. 

Choose the design you want to make and resize as needed to fit your shirt.

Cut out your design, don't forget to mirror the design before cutting.

Weed the design.

Press onto the shirt following the Heat Guide for the material you are using. I pressed mine for 30 seconds at 315 degrees. 

Remove the liner and your shirt is done!