How to Make It: #1 Dad Apron

Reward the Dad in your life with this apron that not only is a great addition to the BBQ but celebrates their joke telling skills.

Written by Sawgrass

on April 11, 2024

Skill Level: Basic

Tools & Supplies to Make It:

How to Create It:

Log into the Sawgrass Exchange and start a new creation in DesignMate.
For your product, select the Adult April with Pocket. It can be found under Kitchen and Dining.
On the Create Your Design Panel, click on Designs. Click on the filter icon and then select Dad and click apply.
Choose the Dad Joke Trophy design.
The design should come in at the correct size. If you wanted to make the image smaller, use your mouse and lasso around the elements to group them.
When your design is finished, hit the Print button to send your job to PrintMate.

How to Print It:

Make sure that you are seeing the popup to Open PrintMate and are hitting Open PrintMate. If you are not seeing this, you’ll need to disable your popup blocker.
In PrintMate, start by scrolling down and making sure your print orientation is set to Portrait.
The file will come in with the dimensions of the print area. Under Design Files, click on Crop to Image Size so you are seeing the true image dimensions.
For this project, you can use the preset Polyester T-Shirts.
Make sure that the media size and type match what you have in the printer. T-shirts are set up for tabloid, but if you want a smaller design, set your paper size and then go to design files and click Fit to Paper Size.
On the Color Management Tab, we suggest having the Color Mode set to Vibrant.
When you’ve confirmed all of your settings, Hit Print.

How to Press It:

Turn your press on and set the temperature to 385 degrees and the time to 45 seconds. Pressure should be medium.
Prepare your apron by using a lint roller to remove any fibers or dust.
Place your design face down on the tea towel and tape it down.
Place the apron on the lower platen of the press with the printed page on top.
Place a piece of blowout paper on top.
Close the press and wait 45 seconds before opening the press and removed the apron.

Tips & Tricks:

Getting lines on your fabric items? Ripping the edges of paper helps prevent those hard lines.
You can alter the size of the design to fit your paper and printer. When you lasso the design to resize in PrintMate, you’ll see the dimensions. Use the resize icon to reduce the image size until it fits on your paper.