Covering Up Print with Heat Transfer Vinyl

A few months ago, I won a fantastic canvas bag from a giveaway. It was a heavy duty bag with handles, and it was the largest canvas bag that I had ever seen. Wow! This bag could fit a lot of craft supplies! However, this particular bag had a movie logo printed in the front. It was a movie that I had ever watched (and probably never would). Yet this bag was so awesome that I wanted to tote all my supplies in it, but I didn’t want to advertise some obscure movie that I had never seen. I like using heat transfer vinyl for projects, but I wasn’t sure if it would hold up on canvas OR if it would hold up being attached to ink that had been printed on the canvas.

So I set to find out!

I measured the printed area that I wanted to cover. It was actually quite a large area. In the photo below, I’m just pointing out the outside margin of the area, but it was very large. Then I used my Silhouette machine to cut out a large heart shape.

I used my iron to adhere the heart to the canvas, covering the area that had the movie advertisement printed.

Have you ever used heat transfer vinyl? It is one of my favorite ways to make cute and quick craft projects. If you do not sew or embroider, heat transfer vinyl is a great tool to personalize items. Before using it, check out an older post that I compiled on Tips and Tricks for Heat Transfer Vinyl Projects.

If you are trying to cover up a printed area on canvas for a project, here are a few things that I observed while completing this project. First, it did take a bit longer to get the HTV to adhere on the canvas than it typically does on cotton or other light weight materials. Secondly, the printed area still shows up through the opposite side of the canvas material. Since this bag is for my personal use, it’s not a big deal. But if you are trying to cover up a printed area and thinking of giving a bag or item as a gift, the HTV will not cover up the print.

I’ve been carrying the bag for about a month now, and the HTV is holding up well. The HTV has been a great solution for turning this bag into a cute one to carry!