Decorating Fleece Vests

During the autumn months vests are popular to wear over a t-shirt or long sleeve shirt. Vests can be made out of different material from soft polyester fleece to denim. At Transfer Express Apparel we offer several different styles of of vests including microfleece, polyester fleece and cotton/poly fleece that we will take a closer look at in this blog.

The Port Authority® Value Fleece (F219) vest is among the most popular vests offered. Available in Men’s, Ladies and Youth sizes, the 100% polyester fleece vest is warm, soft and fuctional. To decorate this fleece vest, a heat transfer is needed that can be applied to temperature sensitive fabric. Elasti Prints® screen printed transfers or CAD-PRINTZ® digital transfers work best for this fabric because of their low application temperatures.

Heat apply a low temperature heat transfer such as an Elasti Prints screen printed transfer.

Port Authority® Value Fleece Vest can be decorated on the front or back. Easy Prints® layout QLW-69

Our favorite vest to decorate  was the Ladies Sport-Tek® Hooded Fleece vest (LST268). This vest is made of cotton/poly sweatshirt material making it easy to decorate. Any heat transfer from Transfer Express will apply successfully to this style. Remember to raise the print area above the zipper seams using a mouse pad or Print Perfect Pad from Stahls’.

Vest decorated with Hot Split screen printed transfer using Easy Prints® layout QAT-31

The last vest that we have decorated is the Port Authority® Microfleece Vest made from 100% polyester microfleece. This extra soft, lightweight fleece has an anti-pill finish creating a smooth canvas for a heat transfer. Because it is manufactured with a temperature sensitive polyester, a low temp heat transfer is needed like Elasti Prints screen printed transfers or CAD-PRINTZ® digital transfers.

Port Authority® Microfleece vest can be decorated using Elasti Prints® screen printed transfers.

Applying to polyester fleece does come with a few extra steps to pay close attention to.

• Choose a low temperature heat transfer when applying to sensitive fabric.
• Raise the print area above zippers or seams using a mousepad or Print Perfect Pad
• Slight indentation is created from the heat press on the higher pile fabrics. The mark will disappear after the first washing.
• Choose metal zipper vests as opposed to plastic zippers. The metal zippers will not melt under the heat press.