Products Used
- TeckWrap Craft dark grey glossy holographic vinyl
- TeckWrap Craft silver glossy holographic vinyl
- Oracal 631 matte black vinyl
- Cricut white premium vinyl
Oh how I want to be good at layering! One always hears the phrase “practice makes perfect”. I know that many are correcting it lately to say “practice makes better” and that is what I want…to be better. I’ve dabbled here and there with layering, the most successful being the 16″ long zentangle peacock design. Riding the high of success from that one, I thought it would be a good time to use a smaller design to practice a couple different layering techniques and see what would work best for me. The latest IG post shows a time-lapse of the process video.
The first of three techniques used was the basic of basics – eyeball it and get as close as possible. It kind of worked. Out of eight different attempts, I got one seemingly perfect. The other attempts were all slightly misaligned on one edge.
The second technique was the same one I used for the peacock and worked better – barn door. For the bard door, the base layer was secured to the table with a piece of tape. For the top layer, the transfer tape is placed onto it and the backing paper remains on. The top layer with backing paper and transfer tape is then aligned over the base design, then one side of the top lifted and half of the backing paper is cut away so the design can layer on top of the base. Once secured, the other side is lifted, backing paper is removed, and the rest of the design is layered. I did two attempts with the bard door method and had one work perfectly; the second one was still slightly off.
The third technique…I WISH I KNEW THIS ONE MONTHS AGO!!!! It is that good! The picture you see above of the 12 heart cluster stickers were all made using parchment paper. IT! WORKS! SO! WELL! (Can you tell I’m excited by this one?) Like with the second technique, the base layer is secured in place with a piece of tape. I used a light table this time so I could more clearly see the outline of the base layer. The top layer is lifted onto transfer tape and stuck to a piece of parchment paper. One edge of the transfer tape is not covered with the parchment paper, making it easier to keep it in place when setting the top layer down. Because the vinyl will not permanently adhere to the parchment paper and is thin enough to see through it (especially with a tight table), it makes the layering process so much easier. I simply placed the parchment on top of the base layer, moved it around until it lined up to where it needed to be, then used my finger to put pressure on the free edge of the transfer tape to keep it in place. Lift the other edge, remove the parchment paper and VOILA!! You have a layered vinyl decal. I did remove the transfer tape from each attempt, making stickers instead since they are smaller in size.
Don’t be surprised to see more layering of vinyl from me in the very near future.
