Quarantine Hair...Don't Care!

Quarantine Hair...Don't Care!


I thought I was being original when I thought of the phrase, Quarantine hair, don't care. I was sadly mistaken, as I found lots of examples of shirts and hats being made with that phrase when I did a Google search.





However, most of those products were:





  1. Something you had to buy. We're makers, we want to make our own!
  2. Just text. Kinda boring!




So I asked our Graphic Designer, Lani, to come up with a design that I could make available to our customers, so those with a ScanNCut can make their own. If you don't own a ScanNCut, as Rob would say, "We can fix that!" We're always ready to make a deal! In fact, you can order the ScanNCut SDX225 online at a great price, and we'll ship it right to you! No shipping charges!





The Design





So, Lani provided me with a drawing in the format of an .svg file. (That means it is a "scalable vector grapic.) This means you can size this drawing to any size you want from tiny to huge and the design will look perfect -- no pixelation!





I took that file and created the .fcm file for the Brother ScanNCut. Since .fcm files are still vector graphics, you can always resize these files, too, without any loss of detail. You can do that on the ScanNCut or in Canvas Workspace.





I am going to show how to:





  • Get this file from my blog to your ScanNCut.
  • Use the ScanNCut to cut the design from Embellish Foil (you can also use iron-on vinyl)
  • Adhere it to the article of your choosing. (In my case, a t-shirt).




No sewing or embroidery is required for this, unless you're making the article you want to put the design on.





We're offering a couple versions of the design, one with "pleats" in the mask and one without.




graphic of person with wild hair wearing a face mask with caption , "Quarantine Hair, don't care."  Graphic of Quarantine Hair, Don't Care with pleats in mask




ScanNCut





This design will work on any ScanNCut model. This blog will show you the ScanNCut SDX225. The newest ScanNCut the SDX230 works the same as the 225.





Your screen, and the exact procedures to cut the design might look different if you own a different model.





In a few days, I will post a blog with instructions for the ScanNCut 2.





Download the File





These files are in .fcm format, and are ScanNCut ready.





Click on the file you want to download:





Smooth Mask





Pleated Mask





You browser will navigate to the shared drive where the files are stored and provide a download option.





screen shot of download requester in Google Chrome




Since this is an .fcm file specific for the ScanNCut there is no preview for this file. Thus, simply click on download and select the location of your choice.





Annotated Screen shot of file save screen




At The ScanNCut





Open Quarantine hair, don't care Design





One you have the .fcm file of your choice on your USB stick, simply insert the stick into the USB port on the ScanNCut and select "Retrieve Data".





  • opening screen of ScanNCut SDX225
    1. Opening Screen
  • Screen Shot of Brother SDX225 showing possible locations for fcm file
    2. Select USB
  • Screen Shot of Brother SDX225 showing scrolling to find fcm file
    3. Scroll (if necessary) to locate design
  • Screen Shot of Brother SDX225 showing selecting Quarantine Hair graphic fcm file
    4. Select design
  • Screen Shot of Brother SDX225 showing confirming selection of Quarantine Hair fcm file.
    5. Confirm selection; press OK




Edit Quarantine hair, don't care Design





A Word About Cutting Embellish Foil





The Embellish Foil has a transfer sheet on the top of the foil. This means that the foil must be placed right side down on the cutting mat so the blade can cut the design on the foil and the excess foil can be torn away. So the design must be mirrored so that when it's turned over to iron it on your project, the letters will be oriented correctly.





Mirror the Design





When you load the design into the ScanNCut it is made of several individual parts. Each letter can be moved, sized, rotated, etc. separately. The lines in the facemask that represent pleats are separate. So, when you mirror the design horizontally, so that it's "upside down" you must group all of the parts together so that they all mirror.





If you do not group all parts together, even though you have every part selected, it will not select the lines of text but rather the individual letters in the text.





Group All Parts





After opening the design, use the select function to select all parts of the design.





  • Screen Shot of Brother SDX225 showing selecting the multi-select button
    6. Touch the multi-select button
  • Screen Shot of Brother SDX225 showing the select all button
    7. Touch the "Select All" button
  • Screen Shot of Brother SDX225 showing all elements of Quarantine Hair design are selected.
    8. Verify that all elements are selected, then click OK




Group all elements together.





  • Screen Shot of Brother SDX225 showing object edit button
    9. Select Object Edit
  • Screen Shot of Brother SDX225 showing group button to group all elements of Quarantine Hair design
    10. Select the "group" button.




Select Edit then group to mirror the image.





  • Screen Shot of Brother SDX225 showing selecting the mirror button for Quarantine Hair grouped design
    11. Select the mirror button.
    (Note that the group icon is highlighted, indicated all items are grouped.)
  • Screen Shot of Brother SDX225 showing selecting the OK button to exit edit screen.
    12. Click OK to exit edit screen. Note that both the group button and the mirror button are highlighted indicating they have been applied to the design.
  • Screen Shot of Brother SDX225 showing selecting the OK button to go to cutting screen
    13. Click Ok to go the the next step




Place Foil on Mat





Remember place the foil right side (shiny side) face down on the mat.





Adhere foil to mat by using a spatula or brayer to remove trapped bubbles and firmly adhere the foil to the mat.









Scan Mat





To make sure that your design is completely on the foil, scan the mat and move the design as necessary.









Cut Quarantine hair, don't care Design





You are now ready to cut out the design.





  • Screen Shot of Brother SDX225 showing select button to pick operation of ScanNCut
    14. Touch "Please Select" to select operation to be performed (cutting)
  • Screen Shot of Brother SDX225 showing select button to pick cutting operation
    15. Select Cut




Verify Cutting Parameters





For cutting foils, vinyl, anything with a carrier sheet either on top of the product or the bottom, you should do a half cut so that the transfer sheet or cover sheet remains intact. Note on the screen whether half cut is OFF or ON.





Select the wrench icon to adjust any parameters necessary.





  • Screen Shot of Brother SDX225 showing cutting options with focus on half cut.
    16. Click on the Wrench to change settings.
  • Screen Shot of Brother SDX225 showing cutting options with scroll arrows for additional pages
    17. Use arrows to view additional cutting configuration pages.
  • Screen Shot of Brother SDX225 showing selecting half cut button
    18. Select the "On" button for half-cut.
  • Screen Shot of Brother SDX225 showing selecting half cut button
    19. Click OK after selecting half cut "on".




Note: Since the SDX225 has an auto blade, most parameters, set to "auto" will be just right to cut your media. If, for some reason, the auto blade does not cut the media fully, or cuts too deep, you can adjust the blade settings manually.





Cut The Design





  • Screen Shot of Brother SDX225 showing the start cutting button
    20. Touch the Start button to begin cutting.








Remove Excess Foil





Remove the foil from the cutting mat.





  • Photo of removing Quarantine Hair cut foil from ScanNCut mat
  • Photo of Quarantine Hair foil cut on ScanNcut




Tear away the foil that is not part of the design. It will easily tear away from the design. Make sure you are removing the right pieces!





The Embellish Weeding Tool is just what you need to remove the small bits of foil that are in the design.









Now your design is ready to heat transfer to the object of your choice!





Align Quarantine hair, don't care Design to Project





If you are placing the Quarantine hair, don't care design on a t-shirt, you'll love the Embellish Centering Ruler! This ruler was designed by Hope Yoder after she realized there was a huge need for something easy to use that would allow her to perfectly center graphics on T-shirts, tote bags and any flat surface.





Watch as Hope explains how to use the ruler:









I found it very easy to use and great for getting the design centered on my shirt.





To place the Quarantine hair, don't care design, decide how far down from the round neck or V-neck you want your graphic to be positioned. Turn the ruler over and align the center of the design with the vertical center line on the ruler. Align the top of the graphic with a horizontal line and use RNK Embroidery Perfection Tape to hold the graphic to the ruler.





Photo of Embellish Centering Ruler to position Quarantine Hair foil design.




Heat Fix Quarantine hair, don't care Design To T-Shirt





Press the un-embellished shirt for 5-7 seconds to remove any moisture and to warm the shirt. Lay the warm shirt on a flat surface making sure the side seams are at the edge of the shirt.





Flip the ruler over so the sticky side of the graphic is next to the shirt and hovering the ruler over the shirt. Align the ruler so there are equal amounts of space between the ruler and the underarm area making sure it is centered. Once this is aligned press the ruler down onto the shirt.





Photo of Embellish Centering Ruler to position Quarantine Hair foil design placed on shirt.




Slip your hand between the ruler and the graphic. Hold the Quarantine hair, don't care graphic firmly against the shirt and remove the ruler. Remove and discard the tape.





t-shirt with Quarantine Hair foil design centered for pressing




I did find that the transfer sheet wasn't very sticky so I used some tape to hold the design in place until I could get it to the press. If you do that, be sure to remove the tape before heat fixing the design!





Iron or heat press the Quarantine hair, don't care graphic according to the manufacturer’s directions for the media you used. I used the 36" Simplicity Intelligent Pro Steam Press, with a "non-stick pressing sheet" on top. I can't say enough good things about this press, and it sure did a great job adhering the foil to the t-shirt -- all at once! No ironing a section at a time!









The Embellish foil is a cold-peel foil, so wait a bit before removing the carrier sheet.





I placed the pressing sheet over the design and pressed again after removing the carrier sheet to make sure the foil was firmly fused to the t-shirt.





Quarantine hair, don't care.





So are you ready to make a shirt for yourself or a loved one or friend. Get that ScanNCut out of your closet and try it out! I think you'll love the results.





As an added twist, you can download a .fcm file of the hair, and cut it out in a different color of foil. Be sure to mirror the design before cutting so that it will line up and cover the hair on the base design.





Just adhere the whole design, then place the cut out of the hair over the hair on the base design and heat set. It adheres just fine, foil on top of foil.









Have fun with this, and we'd love to see your creations! You can post them here or on our Facebook page.


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