Rhinestones are one of the few things that will allow you to add extra value to your printed apparel.
T-shirts printed with rhinestones can be sold for the double or triple price than one that is printed with normal heat transfer vinyl. What you will need for using rhinestones?
It’s quite possible you already have most of the stuff as you already print so t-shirts, but in case you don’t, here is the list with links you can purchase all of them.
- You will need the cutter. Most of the vinyl cutters will work. I used cheap Chinese vinyl cutter and I had some great success. In case you don’t want a full-size cutter I strongly recommend you get A3 cutting solution. Silhouette Cameo. It is a desktop solution and in 99% of the time big enough for any size of your rhinestone stencil.
- You will need the software to make your artwork. Here the selection is not that great but not too small also. You can get some dedicated plugins for Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator, but I am more of the fun of stand-alone apps. Also in most cases, those plugins cost a bit more. Prices range from $50 to $1000. If you are like me, I am sure you will be happier with the lower price 🙂 So to get you started, you get yourself an app that is about $50 on eBay and it’s a digital download, so you can start right away! Software is SURE CUTS A LOT 5 and it has a Rhinestone template making feature.
- A brush. This will help you drive the stones to small holes in your stencil. Nothing special. Browse your local DIY store for Paint Pad and you will find it cheap!
- And of course, some rhinestones to get you started! Many, many places on internet offering all sorts of stones with variety of sizes and colors. I got my rhinestones of eBay . Just make sure you Search for HOTFIX RHINESTONES. They have hot malt glue that will allow them to stick to the garment.
- Stencil material. Right, This one is not that easy. There are companies out there who offer Stencil material for making rhinestone transfers. Search for Sticky flock or Magic flock. I would strongly recommend this <– You can, of course, make your own, but let’s leave it for the next time 🙂
I hope this list helps you to start creating your own rhinestone transfers and create some beautiful garments. Please make sure you will search YouTube for ideas as there are tones of them. Some great tutorials too!!
Happy creating!
