Okay, I have a bit of a love affair with iron-ons. They are such a simple, cheap way to personalize something.

So this season, rather than a team-colored felt heat-n-bond applique for Sissy’s cheer top (like I made last season), I did an iron-on one. Easy-peasy, done and done!

First, I googled “Upward cheerleading logo” to find an appropriate logo to cheer during Sissy’s brothers’ soccer games. I knew the team colors were black and red.

Next, I grabbed some iron-on paper from the office supplies section of Walmart (not the craft supplies section). Fabric transfers come in light fabric transfers, stretchy fabric transfers, and dark fabric transfers. I always use the Avery dark fabric transfers, even for light and stretchy fabrics. The white fabric transfers are so lightweight and flimsy and flake off with one wash (that’s been my experience anyway) that I steer clear of them. And even though the dark fabric transfers are not specifically for stretchy fabric (like the cotton jersey shirt I used in this case), I’ve never had a problem with my images cracking on shirts, even after multiple machine washes and tumble dries.

Next, I take the image I pulled from the internet (saved as an image) and print out a test sheet to make sure I’ve eyeballed the size correctly. Obviously, you don’t want your image so large that it will not comfortably fir on the front of the shirt. Then, I printed the image out again onto the transfer paper. It prints just like a regular sheet (no image reversal or anything needed with the dark transfer paper). Cut out your image.

Follow the Avery dark fabric transfer directions to attach your image to your shirt: remove the paper backing from the image, use the protective sheet between your iron and the image, and iron it to your shirt. Voila! That’s it!

[Don’t worry, little cheer skirt: help is on the way!]

So the little under-$5 pleated cheer skirt got itself a totally spirited outfit completer! Wheeee! So my cute little mini cheerleader is ready to cheer away… Or, well, more accurately, ready to ignore the game, eat snacks, and run around kicking the soccer ball.

…But she does look cute doing it. [Sorry there is no photo of that… you know how near-impossible it is to get a still and in-focus photo of that one.]

So anyone else decking out your little cheerleader this season? This could be great for a favorite pro or college team too! Wheeee!

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