How to Heat Press a Graduation Cap?

Graduation season is all here, and you must be free from studies and other work, so it’s a call for some creativity. Right? In fact, the artist in you must come out at the end if you haven’t shown it to the world before. When students are all occupied with their graduation dresses, decorating graduation caps is the new trend you must hop on.

A trend that will not only be appreciated by the fellows and the professors but will also help you stand out from hundreds of students standing in the rows. Meanwhile, memories are for making, so heat-pressing your graduation caps with friends is also a thing that you can go for.

I guess we have talked a lot about the ideas and the plans, now is the time to execute and implement them to stand out in your day. I will be addressing the supplies you need, the method to heat press a graduation cap, and some tips alongside other ways to decorate that you must have in your mind. So, let’s dig into the details now.

A Guide to heat press a graduation cap – Detailed Information

When you see on the internet for ideas to decorate your graduation cap, you will hundreds of options like using flowers, glitters, adding quotes, adding stars, adding logos, etc. You can also add the unique idea that you have in your mind. But on the side, the internet is your best friend, mainly Pinterest. Talking about that, you can purchase a new cap for decoration from amazon or any place, and later, you can replace the ribbon to match your school or university caps.

If you get the gown and caps before the day, that would be great! This way, you will get the time to work on it. It is always better to have a design in your mind before you start working. Let’s begin now:

Supplies you will need

  1.       Tape Measure
  2.       Weeding Tool
  3.       Scraper Tool
  4.       Scissors
  5.       Spatula
  6.       Heat press and faith in you!

A step-by-step guide to heat press a graduation cap

Step 01:

Look for the designs and the size of your design, whether it fits n the cap top or not. Also, the design should be centered. You can take measurements of the cap and the design measurement.

Step 02:

Choose the picture and send it to the machine so it can be carved out of the iron.

Step 03:

Remove unwanted images from the tape until only yours is left.

Step 04:

You will need to cut out the second color of the vinyl as well if you are going to be utilizing two different colors.

Step 05:

Put your picture on your graduation cap to get a better idea of whether or not it will fit the way you want it to. It’s possible that you’ll need to chop it up into smaller pieces in order to get it to fit all around the button.

Step 06:

Now, heat press the design with the paper on it for a few seconds, from 30 – 40secs. Make sure not to press the heat press firmly or aggressively, as this will destroy the print. This way, you will be done!

Tips and tricks you must know about heat press on graduation caps.

  1.       First and foremost, when putting up the design, we forget and often ignore the right direction to print on. Always remember that you will not be wearing the cap in a square shape, so put the design a little triangular.
  2.       Adjust the temperature to 305 degrees and the timer to 30 seconds. Because your graduation cap is made of polyester.
  3.       Also you will additionally require a pressing sheet to safeguard the material.
  4.       To work around the center button, you can cut or split the design, as it will not look good. When splitting, stick the first part completely before moving on to the next one. But, if your design is small, you can get it done in one go.
  5.       The bigger and simpler the design, the more decent and attractive it will look.
  6.       Always use the cutting machine to cut any edge or center of the design. I personally don’t recommend using scissors and hands, either.

Other ways to decorate the graduation cap

Use of glue:

Depending on how you intend to design and upkeep your graduation cap, I suggest using one of several different types of adhesives. Craft glue provides persistent adhesive, making it ideal for decorating the cap once and moving on. Glue dots are easy to take off, so they are a good choice if you want to save money by taking off the designs.

Use of cardstock:

There are hundreds of decoration ideas that you can put on the graduation caps. One is the cardstock that you can do designing easily and quickly.  One of the simplest and most convenient ways to embellish your graduation cap is to use a Cricut to cut some straightforward patterns from cardstock. After you have finished cutting out your design, simply apply some craft to the cardstock and adhere it to the cap to give it some dimension.

Use of circuit designs:

If you don’t have a lot of time to go into personalizing your own graduation caps, choose a pattern that is straightforward. For that, you can use Cricut Design Space to make a simple decal for the cap out of premade shapes. On the other hand, you will find a brief quote in a bold typeface in the circuit designs. Later on, you can quickly stick it with adhesive vinyl. Sometimes you don’t need heat press; even sticking to a straightforward approach can help you stand out from the crowd.

Final words:

Celebrating all of your hard work over the past many years with a fun activity like decorating your graduation cap is a great idea. A personalized cap is a great way to add a special and unique touch to your ceremony day!

That being said, I hope you had a good time understanding our simple method of heat-pressing your graduation cap because that what matters to us!