Self Adhesive and Heat transfer vinyl
There are two main vinyl types: self adhesive vinyl (peel away the backing paper and press onto appropriate surfaces) and heat transfer vinyl (press/iron in place). Before you start, you have to understand the different uses – It is incredibly easy to get into decorating objects and customizing textiles with Janome’s Artistic Edge digital cutter.
The self- adhesive vinyl is also called a sticker and is decorative or decal vinyl. An adhesive vinyl is a plastic film, slightly stretchy, with a sticky reverse side. Adhesive vinyl comes in a range of colours and finishes: solds, prints and glitter vinyl. Some are are available with a longer or shorter lifespan that is determined by the thickness, type of adhesive and supports on which they are applied. For example, a “heavier duty” vinyl would be required for a “sticker” that may be exposed to the heat of the sun or winter weather conditions. The film is composed of a thin adhesive layer allowing it to adhere to almost any smooth, flat or curved surfaces. Vinyl comes in a sheet or on a roll. Janome offers this starter set to familiarize yourself with adhesive vinyl.
Heat transfer vinyl is a vinyl that uses heat and pressure to adhere to fabric or other suitable surface. You will need to iron or press to attach the vinyl. The heat transfer vinyl is also called HTV and is available as a sheet or on a roll. It is available in a variety of colors and the finishes are smooth matte/saturated, glittery, velvet; etc. There are also specialties such as metal, reflective, irridescent, photo-luminescent, and so on. Janome offers this starter set to familiarize yourself with heat transfer vinyl.
The same procedure is used to cut out both types of vinyl:
a) In the Simple Cut software (which come standard with the cutter) , choose the CUT technique:
b) Pre-sets: Select vinyl, insert the RED blade with a blade depth of 2
c) The cutting mat should be very clean.
In order to demonstrate the accuracy of the adhesive vinyl cutting, I changed the size of each snowflake to 1″ by checking the ‘proportional’ option. The very small details are well defined. The laser eye/dot makes positioning of the vinyl on the mat very easy and allows the entire sheet to be used to avoid wastage of materials to be cut.
The HTV or heat-sticking vinyl is a little thicker and sometimes the blade has not cut the material thoroughly. We have two choices to ensure a good cutting.
a) After the first cut, DO NOT remove the mat from the cutter. Click CUT a second time. It is possible to CUT several times depending on the kind of vinyl used.
b) In the red circle in the next photo, adjust the cutting settings: there are two very useful options that we neglect to adjust: the speed of the cutting and the pressure of the blade on the material to be cut. Tests are needed to properly adapt these options to the cutting materials.
Once the cut is complete, all that remains is to iron the parts of the pattern on the fabric with an iron. WARNING: Keep the transparent sheet from the top of the vinyl as it protects the vinyl. It is gently removed when the project has cooled a little.
Are you excited about using vinyl to embellish projects?
Would you like to learn more about using the Artistic Edge Cutter?
Contact your local Janome Canada Dealer about the possibility of further Edge cutter classes and Edge cutter accessories.
Originally posted on Vie Janome. Translated and edited for Janome Life.
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