DIY Christmas Pajamas with Cricut Maker

Want to bring a little Handmade Holiday to your home? Create some matching DIY Christmas Pajamas for the whole family this year, using the Cricut Maker.

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It has been a tradition in our family that we all get new pajamas on Christmas Eve.  I’m the kind of mom that likes to take pictures of our family Christmas morning, in our new pajamas among the mess of the wrapping paper and presents in front  of the tree.  Although I love it when we all have matching pajamas, the last couple years it’s been hard to find matching pajamas everyone likes.  Well this year, thanks to my Cricut Maker, I was able to create some fun matching pajama shirts for the whole family.

DIY Christmas Pajamas

To make these DIY Christmas Pajamas you will need:

Cricut Maker

Riley Blake Fusible Fabric Pack

Cutting Mats – Fabric Grip and Regular Grip

EasyPress 2

EasyPress Mat

Iron on Vinyl

Basic Tool Kit

Snowman Design

Plain White Shirts

When I decided to make these DIY Christmas Pajamas, I looked through Cricut Design Space to find an image to use.  I settled on a cute snowman that had a couple layers and some color.  I thought the fusible fabric would be really cute as the red hat and green scarf instead of using red and green iron on vinyl.

Iron on vinyl can be layered when using a design with multiple layers.  Layering too many pieces of iron on vinyl can make a shirt heavy.  If layering can be avoided, that is what I usually try to do.  Luckily Cricut Design Space has the slice tool, which makes turning those layered files into more of a puzzle.  So the pieces will all fit together perfectly and all on a single layer. The slice tool was also a great option for this project since I wanted to use the fusible fabric, and I wasn’t 100% it could be layered onto the iron on vinyl.

How to slice an image in Cricut Design Space

Once the snowman design is on the canvas in Design Space, click duplicate on top of the layers panel and make a copy.  Ungroup that copy and turn off all but 2 of the layers.  Only 2 layers can be sliced at a time.  Which means you will be making multiple duplicates of the original design.

Highlighting (selecting) only the black back ground of the design and white snowman body, click the slice tool at the bottom of the layers panel.  Separate the sliced design, there should be 3 pieces, and delete the pieces you don’t need.  Following the same steps above, place a copy of the red hat onto your sliced outline.  Highlight both the outline and hat, click the slice button and remove the 3 pieces of sliced layer.  Continue this method with the green scarf on the outline of the snowman.

Once the outline is all sliced, ungroup the original snowman and move the hat layer into your sliced designed and it should fit perfectly.  Then follow with the scarf layer and nose.  When you add the eyes and buttons to your sliced layer, you will need to attach that layer with the outline layer before cutting.  If they are not attached, they will not be cut out together in the right place.  Make sure any layer you want cut out of black iron on vinyl is attached together before cutting.

How to Cut Multiple Materials with the Cricut Maker

Once you click make it, all the layers will show up on coordinating mats.  Double check that each layer shown has the right design and right placement of all the pieces for that layer.  When you are ready to cut the iron on layer, click the little mirror image button just under the mat view.  Always use mirror image when cutting iron on vinyl.  Lay the iron on vinyl onto the mat with the shiny side down.  That plastic protective sheet will become the top and be the protective layer between the vinyl and the EasyPress 2.

Load the mat into the machine and choose iron on as the cutting material in Design Space.  Click the green go button and cut out the iron on layer.  Unload it from the machine when it’s done cutting, and use the weeding tools to remove the unwanted iron on vinyl.  Leaving the design on the plastic protective sheet.

Next cut the fusible fabric layers.  This requires a bit of a change.  Once the iron on vinyl is done cutting, remove the fine point blade in clamp B and place the rotary blade in it’s place.  The gears will match up with the gears on the Cricut Maker.  Use the fabric grip mat when cutting fabric.  Lay your fabric onto the mat and smooth it out as best you can.

REMEMBER to select the correct material in Design Space.  Click the drop down arrow on the right hand side of the materials section and search fusible fabric.  Select that and it will tell you to make sure you are using the right blade.  No need to mirror image when cutting fabric.  Load the fabric grip mat into the machine and click the go button.  Follow these steps for the remaining fusible fabric layers.

The Cricut Maker cuts fabric like a dream!  It is perfect every time.  The rotary cutter cuts cotton, fleece, denim, felt and more.  And although I used the fusible fabric on this project, there is no need to back the material you want to cut with a stabilizer.

How to Iron on a Sliced Design

Although we used a sliced design instead of layering everything on top of each other, there is an extra step when it comes to using the EasyPress to iron our design onto our shirts.

Once all the pieces are cut out and ready to go, place your shirt on top of the EasyPress Mat and turn on your EasyPress 2 to the temperature required for your materials.  I used 315 degrees for this project. (Ironing onto cotton shirts.)

Start with the layer that can take the most heat.  For this project, the iron on vinyl.  Heat the surface of the shirt for 5 seconds, place the design right side up onto the shirt, so the protective plastic sheet will be between the shirt and EasyPress.  Press the design for 15 to 20 seconds.  Let it cool for about 5 seconds and then carefully remove the plastic sheet.  Go slowly to make sure you don’t pull up any of the design.

Lay the fusible fabric pieces onto the design where they go, cover the entire design with the iron on protective sheet.  Heat the design for 20-30 seconds.  Make sure the fabric is fused to the shirt.  I don’t have a picture of this step, but it’s recommended that you sew around the fabric pieces of your design.  It will help them from falling off from wear and tear and washing.

I found the matching pajama pants at Primary.com.  My kids thing they are the softest and most cozy pajama pants they’ve ever owned.  And since I just happen to decorate with snowmen, these DIY Christmas Pajamas and the cute models, fit right in this space.

What kinds of handmade holiday items do you like to create this time of year?  Hopefully these DIY Christmas Pajamas will be at the top of your list.

Happy Crafting!

Liz

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.