You can buy t-shirts with great designs on them, and if you want a bunch of personalized shirts for a local drama club or church group, you can find stores that sell shirts in bulk. However, if you want something original and maybe just one or two, do it yourself with an iron-on transfer.

You can create your own custom clothing without any sewing skills. Decorate T-shirts, canvas bags, and other fabric items with iron-on transfers that you design yourself on your computer and print on your desktop printer.

Grab a kit that includes everything you need, including design software and a t-shirt, or put together your own materials. Whichever route you choose, you’ll need a few supplies for the typical iron-on style of transfers that you print from your desktop printer and apply with an iron.

When the instructions say you need a hot iron, they mean it. Here are a few tips and explanations to help clarify the process of making and applying irons.