Hi there, it’s Dorlene and I’m super excited to share my first Design Team project with you! Summer is here with this fun Hello Summer HTV Tote tutorial. I wanted to give a plain black nylon mesh bag an updo, so I used the Hello Summer T075 SVG and a variety of bright fun HTV colors I had in my stash.

After uploading the image into Cricut Design Space, I noticed that there was an offset to the image.

I didn’t need the white offset since I wanted the bright colors to pop against the black tote bag. Therefore, in order to hide the offset while cutting the HTV, I clicked on the eye next to the portion that I didn’t want to cut. See how the offset does not show on the canvas now? This is exactly what I need for my project.

Hide Offset Layer in Cricut Design Space

After you click Make It but before you hit the Continue button, be sure to mirror each mat since this is an Iron On project. This is very important! So important that Cricut will also remind you to do it when your setting dial is on Iron On (aka HTV)!

After all the vinyl pieces were cut, I brought back the offset image to the canvas and hid the rest. The reason why I did this is that I needed Parchment Paper or something similar to place inside the bag because of the mesh surface. I didn’t want the HTV to stick to the back of the bag. Instead of using a square piece of Parchment Paper, I decided to cut the offset with it. This will help with placement of the different color HTV AND gives extra protection.

I tucked the Parchment Paper offset inside the bag

05 Parchment Paper for Iron on mesh tote

And placed the HTV pieces on the front of the bag using the Parchment Paper offset as a guide. This was a little tricky to keep in place so I used some heat-resistant tape to help hold down some areas.

I hope you can see the Parchment Paper offset in this photo, it was really hard to photograph.

Here’s the final result. I absolutely love how this bright image pops on the black bag and really gave this plain tote a big makeover!

I hope you decide to try something like this on your own. One of my favorite things to do is to make something plain, and beautiful, and what a great way to share our talent and to use it with our family!

-Dorlene

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