How to make your own Avengers t-shirt, like this DIY Captain America shirt with the shield symbol on it. Learn how to use foil transfer without a cutting machine.
We just saw Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War, and it was epic! So many great characters that I love and some excellent one-liners. It was fun to see so many Marvel characters from different movies interacting. I loved team Thor-Rocket, but they were all great.
Because I was so excited to see the movie, I made a shirt with my favorite Avenger’s symbol to wear to it. This would be a great project for adding any symbol or graphics to a t-shirt. It’s a really easy process.
Update: We saw the second part Avengers: Endgame! And we made Captain America’s shield out of foam for a costume. Click on the link to take a look at it. (Yes, Captain America is my favorite Avenger!)
How to Make a Metallic Avengers T-shirt
Cut the Symbol Shape Out of the Adhesive
I found a black and white version of Captain America’s shield online and printed it out, making it 3.5 inches (9 cm) in diameter. I cut out the paper pattern and then traced it onto the Deco Foil Hot Melt Adhesive. The back of the adhesive is paper and easy to draw on. Then I cut out the largest circle and the smaller circle. I used an X-acto knife to cut out the spaces between the star points, but I kept the star just barely attached to the circle.
Iron on the Adhesive
Place the bumpy side of the hot melt adhesive down on your t-shirt and cover it with parchment paper (included with the adhesive). I used a ruler to center the Captain America symbol in the center of the t-shirt. The symbol is exactly 6.25 inches from each armpit seam.
Place a hot iron on the parchment paper and let it melt the adhesive for about 30 seconds. Let the adhesive cool, then peel the paper backing off the shirt. I used an X-acto knifepoint to start the paper coming off because it’s glued down pretty firmly.
Add the Metallic Deco Foil
Deco Foil Transfer Sheets comes in all sorts of colors. My favorite is Deco Foil copper, and I knew the copper would make a nice contrast with the blue shirt.
Cut a piece of Deco Foil slightly larger than the symbol design. A pack of Deco Foil comes with five sheets and you’ll only need a small part of one. I’ve used my Deco Foil for Moana’s necklace, Star Trek shirts, and Galadriel’s crown, and I still have plenty left.
Place the Deco Foil on the adhesive on the shirt, cover it with parchment paper, and iron for about 30 seconds. If you want the metallic to be shiny and small, just place the iron lightly over the paper and let the heat do all the work. I wanted my shield symbol to look a little grungy and show the texture of the t-shirt fabric, so I pressed down on the iron and melted the Deco Foil into the threads of the shirt. It’s just preference.
Finish the T-shirt
Let the Deco Foil cool onto the adhesive, then remove the plastic backing. The Deco Foil will only stick where the adhesive design is. If it missed a few spots because they didn’t get enough heat, you can always place a new piece of Deco Foil on that area and re-iron it on. It doesn’t look quite as nice as getting it right the first time, but it is an easy fix.
I love my new Avengers shirt, and it was so fun to wear it to the opening of the Avengers: Infinity War movie! Make your own t-shirt to show off your favorite Marvel character, then go see the movie.
And here’s my daughter modeling the shirt for me. Such a cute Marvel fan!
Take a look at these t-shirt costumes from other bloggers:
- Retro Candy button costume
- Monsters Inc. Halloween costume
- Girls Ninja Turtle costume
- Batgirl costume
- Bazooka Joe costume
- Lemon-lime costume