Make Your Own Refashionista Tees: 8 Free Iron-On Heat Transfer Paper Designs

When I rebranded this blog a few months ago, I shared images from my new brand book that shared a few mockups of my logo and branding in several environments, including on merch.

A bunch of you asked where you could find these Refashionista tees and tote bags (that technically didn’t exist). At that time, the answer was, “Nowhere.”

This inspired me to reach out to my graphic designer to collaborate on a line of Refashionista merch, both branded and non-branded, for sewing enthusiasts and Refashionista fans!

I’m working with an ethical eco-friendly vendor to create custom screen-printed merch (coming soon!), but also wanted to offer something for folks who would rather remake a tee they already own (or have thrifted!). Refashionista is all about DIY after all!

That’s when I discovered NuFun Activities. They make several different types of transfer paper, mess-free paper & printable shrink film. They’re also a 100% woman-owned business, which I dig.

This post is sponsored by NuFun Activities (Yay!), but it still reflects my honest opinion about their product. Would I lie to you to make a quick buck? No. No, I would not.

I’m releasing a limited run of Refashionista Tee designs for you to download, print, and transfer to show your love (or heck…I’ll settle for like) of this blog, sewing, and/or thrifting!

Here they are!

The downloadable PDF for all of these designs is at the end of this post!

Here’s how to make your own iron-on transfers!

I started off with three tees. The yellow one was thrifted, and the others were purchased new.

As per the instructions that came with my NuFun transfer papers, I washed them all beforehand.

If you’re using a thrifted tee, make sure it doesn’t have any pilling, or the image won’t adhere correctly.

Then, I printed out my designs onto my papers.

You’ll notice they’re all printed in reverse. This is intentional! In order for the designs to print to be read from left to right, I had to mirror them.

Don’t worry! The printable PDF of these (at the end of this post) is already mirrored for you!

I carefully cut around one of the designs, leaving the edges rounded.

My plan for this design was to put the big logo on the front of my tee and the small one on the back.

I ironed the front of my shirt on high heat (no steam!) to remove any moisture and/or wrinkles from my tee.

Then, I lint rolled it to make sure the front was totally debris-free!

I laid my design on the front center of my shirt.

Now for the fun part!

I ironed my design down on high heat using small circular motions for two minutes (the time indicated in the instructions).

After my two minutes were up & while the transfer paper was still hot, I peeled the backing off!

I was really happy with how my very first Refashionista logo tee turned out!

I also added the small logo to the back of my tee.

Of course, I couldn’t wait to put on my very first piece of self-promotional clothing!

I wore my new tee with one of my favorite $1 thrifted skirts!

To care for my new tee, I’ll have to make sure I only wash it in cold water inside-out and hang it to dry, but considering how pricey a screen-printed tee would be, I think that’s fair.

But what about those other two T-shirts?

Well, I couldn’t resist creating this design.

And now I have the perfect tee to wear on my thrifting adventures as well!

• Here’s the PDF download to make your own Refashionista tees!
• And here’s a link to NuFun’s Iron-On Heat Transfer Paper! *
  *Save 20% at checkout when you use the promo code: JILLIAN

I’d love to know which design is your favorite/which one you can’t wait to make for yourself!

Also, please use the hashtag #RefashNuFun & tag me in your socials if you make a tee of your own! I’d LOVE to see these designs out in the wild!

Cheers!