• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • home
  • about
  • The Craft Room
    • 20 Minute Crafts
    • Home Decor
    • Seasonal
    • Silhouette
    • Vinyl
  • disney
  • contact

Simply Made Fun logo

Learn how to Distress Vinyl for a Game of Thrones Shirt

20 Minute CraftsT-ShirtsVinyl

This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through the link, I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.

110shares
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest110
  • Twitter
  • Mix

Do you know how to distress vinyl after you cut it? I didn’t know that was possible but it is! And odds are you already have the tool you need to make it happen in your house.

how to distress vinyl on a Game of Thrones shirt

April is going to be EPIC.

I feel like I’ve been waiting for April 2019 for years. Which is crazy because they only announced the last season of Game of Thrones recently and it hasn’t been that long since Infinity War came to the big screen. 

But, I’m a tad dramatic so I’ll continue telling people that it’s felt like years to finally get to the conclusion of these two stories. 

how to distress vinyl on a Game of Thrones shirt

I am a HUGE fan of making shirts for events. Two years ago I made this Game of Thrones bleached shirt for myself and I still wear it all the time. Though Chris says it looks more like The Lion King than the Lannister Lion, but whatever. I still love it.

This year I knew I wanted to make another Game of Thrones shirt but I also wanted to make one for Avenger’s Endgame. I kept coming up blank. 

Chris and I have been rewatching the entire series to get ready for the last season. We were on the episode where Jon takes a small group of men from the Night’s Watch over the wall to avenge Lord Commander Mormont and they start to say their vows. That’s when it clicked.

"I am the shield that guards the realms of men".

Shield. Captain America. Game of Thrones.

PERFECT.

how to distress vinyl on a Game of Thrones shirt

I knew I wanted to distress part of the image to give it a worn look. Both Game of Thrones and Endgame are going in to huge battles and everyone is going to come out of it beat up and battle worn. I wanted to have that look on the shirt.

To figure out what to distress I looked at two things: size and weight. The Shield was by far the winner in both categories which meant you’d be able to see the distress much easier than you would if I had done it to the font. 

Did you know that you can distress a design AFTER you cut it? I didn’t. I had zero clue until someone told me you could in one of the Silhouette groups I’m in. And it’s a game changer you guys. A total game changer. 

You can distress anything now! It’s amazing!

To get the correct size design for your t-shirt, download the sizing and placement guide here!

how to distress vinyl on a Game of Thrones shirt

To distress your designs you need one of these: a cheese grater (one with tiny holes) or a pedi egg. I only had a cheese grater so that is what I used. 

To distress your design after you cut it you need to do three things:

  1. DO NOT WEED your vinyl beforehand. This will keep those tiny distressed pieces from sticking to the carrier sheet (though you will get a few rogue pieces that will stick no matter what).
  2. Only use the grater on the back of the vinyl. I have not tried this with permanent vinyl, only heat transfer….so I can’t say that this works for both types. But with HTV you want to only distress from the back (non-shiny side) of the vinyl.
  3. If you drape your vinyl over the side of a counter/table top it is easier to distress. Laying it flat on the table makes it more difficult to get a good distressed look. The angle makes it easier for your cheese grater to really “dig” into the vinyl.

how to distress vinyl on a Game of Thrones shirt

These tips for how to distress vinyl are:

  • easy to do,
  • require tools you (most likely) have in your home, and
  • are much easier to weed than if you cut a distressed decal.

How to Distress Vinyl for a Game of Thrones Shirt

Learn how to Distress Vinyl

Learn how to Distress Vinyl

Yield: 1
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Active Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Medium
Estimated Cost: $15

Learn how to distress vinyl with tools you most likely already have in your home.

Materials

  • Heat Transfer Vinyl (Electric Easyweed)
  • Heat Transfer Vinyl (Easyweed Stretch)
  • Blank T-Shirt

Tools

  • Silhouette Cameo
  • Cricut EasyPress
  • Weeding Tool
  • Pedi Egg (optional)
  • Cheese Grater (optional)
  • Silhouette Designer Edition

Instructions

  1. Make sure your design is mirrored and then hit cut. (see note #1)
  2. Use your pedi egg or cheese grater and roughen up the vinyl. (see note #2)
  3. Weed the vinyl and heat up your EasyPress. (you can reference the EasyPress guide to see what settings you need to press your vinyl)
  4. Fold your t-shirt in half (lengthwise and up the middle) and use your EasyPress to iron the creases of your folds. This will help you line up your design in later steps.
  5. When you're layering multiple colors (like we are with the SHIELD) you want to be careful that you don't press for too long because that'll melt layers and then the different colors won't line up properly. Heat each layer for 5-10 seconds (just enough so the carrier sheet comes off while the vinyl sticks to the shirt). Then do one final press for 30 seconds once all the layers are on the shirt.
  6. Press the text on to the shirt as well.
  7. Then turn the shirt over and press one more time (this step is optional but I've found that my vinyl is less likely to lift if I do a final press).

Notes

  1. I used Easyweed Electric for the shield to give it more of a shine and to have it stand out against the text. Make sure (if you use the same vinyl) that you use the cut setting for VINYL METALLIC. And always cut twice.
  2. I used a cheese grater because it was what I had on hand. Make sure it has small holes so that you're not taking away too much of the vinyl. Put the vinyl (shiny side down) on the edge of the counter and scrape it with your cheese grater. Continue to move the vinyl around and grate it until you're happy with how it looks.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

  • Cricut EasyPress 2
    Cricut EasyPress 2
  • Silhouette Cameo
    Silhouette Cameo
  • Silhouette Weeding Tool
    Silhouette Weeding Tool
© Teresa
Project Type: Heat Transfer Vinyl / Category: Silhouette
If you are addicted to t-shirts then you need to check these out. I’m such an enabler. πŸ˜‰

  • Peep Squad Easter Shirt,
  • Squad Goals Toy Story Shirt, and
  • Layered Harry Potter Shirts

how to distress vinyl on a Game of Thrones shirt

And if you want to learn more about using your Silhouette Machine, check out the How To Silhouette series here on the blog!

Remove heat transfer vinyl with Letting Removing Solvent

How to Remove Heat Transfer Vinyl When You Screw Up

Learn how to Distress Vinyl for a Game of Thrones Shirt

Learn how to Distress Vinyl for a Game of Thrones Shirt

How to Use Heat Transfer Vinyl on Shirts

How to Use Heat Transfer Vinyl on Shirts

How to use transfer tape for your Silhouette and Cricut projects

How to Use Transfer Tape

How to successfully weed small designs with your Silhouette Machine

How to Successfully Cut and Weed Small Designs with Your Silhouette

110shares
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest110
  • Twitter
  • Mix

Filed Under: 20 Minute Crafts, Silhouette, T-Shirts, Vinyl Tagged With: 20 minute crafts, Cricut Easy Press, fandoms, heat-transfer vinyl, how to silhouette, Movie & TV Crafts, t-shirt Leave a Comment

About Teresa

left image

After 3+ years of using my machine I still β™‘ my Silhouette! And I want to show everyone how easy it is to make wood signs, svg files, t-shirt designs, and more!

I'm also a pretty big Disney nerd and love sharing our vacation tips. And projects. Lots of my crafts are Disney themed. Because those are the types of projects that bring me joy!

Tag @simplymadefun on Instagram if you've made one of our projects so we can check it out!

Simply Made Fun is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

I create easy-to-follow craft tutorials to help you build confidence in the craft room and make projects that bring you joy. Learn more

Follow Along

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Project Key

20 MINUTE
VINYL
T-SHIRTS

SEASONAL
HOME
DISNEY

Looking for Something?

Seasonal Favorites

How to Put Heat Transfer Vinyl on Wood Ornaments

Elsa Inspired Faux Leather Earrings with Foil Quill Pens

Star Wars Ornaments - Make your own rustic Star Wars Ornaments with wood slices, DecoArt paint, and your Silhouette machine! This simple + quick DIY is perfect for the Star Wars fans in your life!

How to Make Painted Star Wars Ornaments

Faux suede Christmas Tree Earrings

Faux Suede Christmas Tree Earrings

Footer

Link to display lightbox
Instagram post 2191712866134136469_245285057 I went to the doctor yesterday and found out I have bronchitis. 'Tis the time of year I guess. 😷And so, I have zero energy to do or make anything. Lucky for me I went Christmas craft crazy last year and have lots of stuff to share! ⁣ ⁣ First up, this sweet sign my son helped me with last year!⁣ ⁣ My four year old is obsessed with the Little Blue Truck book series. If you haven't you are seriously missing out. They're all adorable.⁣ ⁣ Instead of doing a little red truck on this sign and having it be like everyone else's, I decided to do blue. Well, my son did. I let him pick. 😬⁣ ⁣ This was fun, easy, and I love putting it on display this time of year! ⁣ ⁣ πŸ‘‰πŸ»πŸ‘‰πŸ» Click the link in my profile for the full tutorial and to find out where I got the file from!
Link to display lightbox
Instagram post 2190125826006202300_245285057 π—”π—©π—˜π—‘π—šπ—˜π—₯𝗦 π—”π—¦π—¦π—˜π— π—•π—Ÿπ—˜! ⁣ ⁣ Need a quick and easy stocking stuffer for Christmas this year? These gloves come in at under $5.00 a pair and are so easy to make. ⁣ ⁣ I am terrible at putting together stockings for my family. I can never find cute and inexpensive gifts to give that they actually need. I hate giving things that are cheap, but also useless.⁣ ⁣ Last year I figured everyone needs gloves at it gets colder! And why not use my @silhouette.inc to personalize them? ⁣ ⁣ We're totally into the Avengers over here but you can put monograms, Frozen characters, or anything else you love on them! ⁣ ⁣ πŸ‘‰πŸ» Click the link in my profile to go to the tutorial!
Link to display lightbox
Instagram post 2187897842431968369_245285057 Do you have trouble cutting and weeding small designs?⁣ ⁣ π— π—˜ 𝗧𝗒𝗒. πŸ€¦πŸ»β€β™€οΈβ£ ⁣ At least, 𝘐 π˜₯π˜ͺπ˜₯. The small letters would always get lost in the weeded vinyl or my machine just didn't want to cut the design well. ⁣ ⁣ But I finally figured out a way to get my small designs to cut right every single time! πŸŽ‰β£ ⁣ Step one is to slow down your cut.⁣ ⁣ For step two, hit the link in my smart.bio to find out! πŸ˜‰β£ ⁣ ⁣ #silhouette #makeityourself #craftygirl #silhouettecameo #thehandemadeparade #makersvillage #craftsposure #craftbuzz #makeallthethings #craftersgonnacraft #createdtocreate #crafter #creativeliving #colorfullycrafted #makersgonnamake #makersmovement #creativelifehappylife #maker @silhouette.inc @expressionsvinyl
Link to display lightbox
Instagram post 2186460683317654021_245285057 Who is ready to eat some Turkey/! Or, in our case, ham...because turkey is gross. πŸ¦ƒβ£ ⁣ I hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday! Happy eating friends! 😬
Link to display lightbox
Instagram post 2185132432436920138_245285057 I love making t-shirts with my Silhouette machine! They're hands down my favorite thing to make.⁣ ⁣ It's always fun dressing up little kids who have no idea how embarrassed they should be of the crazy (but adorable) things their parents make them wear. I figure I have another year, maybe two tops, before my son catches on and tells all of his cousins. Time is running out quick! πŸ™ˆβ£ ⁣ This file is from @thesmudgefactory and I cut it out on my @silhouette.inc machine and used my favorite htv from @expressionsvinyl to bring it all together. πŸ‘πŸ»β£ ⁣ These shirts were a HUGE hit and I cannot wait to make new ones for this year.⁣ ⁣ Have you ever done matching shirts for all the cousins at Christmas? πŸŽ„β£ ⁣ πŸ‘‰πŸ»πŸ‘‰πŸ» Click the smart.bio link in my profile to get the full tutorial for these fun shirts!

Disclaimer: Simply Made Fun is a for-profit blog. All companies and organizations that I work with are chosen by me. I will never post anything that is not an honest opinion of mine, regardless of compensation. There may be affiliate links present within posts that offer a compensation to me upon purchase. These will always be disclosed.

Copyright: All images and content are copyrighted by Teresa Cox and Simply Made Fun, unless otherwise stated. Images may not be cropped or altered under any circumstances without written consent. If you quote any content from this blog, please be sure to link back and give proper credit. Thank you!

SIMPLY MADE FUN is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising.

Copyright Β© 2017 β€’ Back to Top β€’ Contact β€’ Privacy Policy

110shares
  • 110
We use cookies on this website. READ OUR COOKIE POLICY HERE.