The Best Christmas Shirt SVG – Free and Premium
This collection of Christmas shirt SVG designs are sure to have something for everyoneon your list. Sarcastic? Gotcha covered. Holiday-obsessed? Yep, have that one, to.
One of the first Cricut projects I made was a Christmas shirt with a single color of heat transfer vinyl. Friends, I thought I was on top of the WORLD! I want you to have that feeling if you’re working on a beginner Cricut project idea, too, so I’ll be giving some tips.
RELATED READING: Free Christmas Truck Designs in Buffalo Check (with Tree)
What You'll Find On This Page
Christmas Shirt SVG Bundles and Best Designs
Here at Ruffles and Rain Boots, I’ve been mad-crafting for the holidays. If you’re a long-time reader, you know that I push out a TON of free Christmas SVG files each and every year. These designs are files for Cricut, Silhouette, Scan N Cut, and even some laser cutters!
Just this year, I’ve given nearly a hundred away in a single shot with the 31 Days of Christmas SVG free series (sign up to start getting yours). I’ve also shared oodles of subscriber-only goodies, and as of right now (12/17/22), I still have 63 unpublished designs for the holidays.
Moving from Washington state to Texas really took a lot of time away from my creating. I would design digitally because the craft room wasn’t set up and I’m so grateful to be up and running again.
RELATED READING: Free Red Christmas Truck SVG Designs
Please Save or Share This
The designs are coming but may I ask a favor? Your shares are how this site grows and I am sincerely grateful for each and every one. Please save this to a Cricut ideas pin board or share it with a crafty group on Facebook.
As an Amazon Associate, I could earn from qualifying purchases. There could be affiliate links within this article.
How to Make a Beginner Cricut T-Shirt with Heat Transfer Vinyl
If you are brand new to a Cricut or Silhouette machine, welcome – they are amazing tools. If you want to make your first Christmas tee shirt, here are few things to keep in mind. When you’re done reading through these tips, this tutorial on how to make a shirt with a Cricut is stellar and easy for beginners to follow.
What Size Should a T-Shirt Design Be for Cricut and Silhouette Projects?
Adult designs should range between 11 and 14 inches and kids about 5-9. That said, always measure your shirt. My biggest tip here is to print out the sized design on regular printer paper to see it on the shirt before cutting.
What is Mirroring a Design with Heat Transfer Vinyl?
If there is ever a Post-It® note you need on your cutting machine, it is, “Did you remember to mirror the design.” HTV (heat transfer vinyl) will need to be reversed for shirts. I have personally made this mistake countless times, so I want to help you avoid it.
Where Should I Position a T-Shirt Design?
Once the design has been sized and cut, the next most important thing to remember is to center the design on your t-shirt. Be mindful of how high up you’re placing the design. I cheat using a t-shirt sizing guide set and highly recommend them to have in your craft supplies.
A good rule of thumb is that the design should start about . Here is an AMAZING resource on where to place designs on a t-shirt.
How Do I Press HTV with a Cricut EasyPress or Heat Press?
When I first started, I had a Cricut EasyPress and used that to make TONS of my own holiday and year-round t-shirts. Over the years, however, I’ve moved on and now use an AutoPress from HTVRont. It’s a fun press to use and I consider it safer for my little one to be around.
The trick to using ANY heat source when making shirts is to keep it STILL. Tape the transfer using heat resistant tape (I like the Cricut heat tape because it does not yellow). The idea is to not move the press around too much.
Heat guides (for both Cricut and the vinyl brands) are available. Look up the Cricut heat guide or “brand + heat guide” to find the best temperature and times for your project.
RELATED READING: Christmas Beer SVG Designs – They’re SO Funny!
The Most Popular Christmas T-Shirt Designs
Let’s get to the good stuff, shall we? Below are some of the most loved holiday shirt SVG sets, bundles, and collections I’ve made. All of these are hand lettered, drawn, or created in Adobe Illustrator.
Each comes with a commercial use license (the license will download with the designs to keep for your records). Please note that no designs are allowed to be uploaded as-is to print on demand services such as Redbubble, Printify, or Amazon Merch. There is a handy cheat sheet on ways you can and cannot use these files below.
Free Most Likely To Christmas SVG Bundle
Within about an hour of publishing this “most likely to” Christmas SVG free bundle, it went CRAZY with downloads. There are 10 different holiday designs and there is definitely something for everyone on your list!
RELATED READING: Free “Merry Christmas” Cut Files for Holiday Cricut Project Ideas
Christmas Heartbeat SVG Free Bundle
For a very easy Cricut beginner t-shirt idea, use these free Christmas heartbeat cut file designs. Use a single color of foil, flock, or regular heat transfer vinyl on a shirt and you’ll be done in 15 minutes.
Free “Only a Morning Person on Christmas” SVG for Shirts
This Only a Morning Person on Christmas cut file design has become a staple in holiday shirts. If you’re a beginner, it’s easy to cut ALL of the black in a single cut and add on the holly and berries once that’s been positioned.
Sarcastic and Funny Christmas SVG Free
I made this “I Am a Joy to the World” SVG set for my brother and immediately put it on a coffee mug for his office. It was a quick sublimation project with the Cricut Mug Press but can easily be replicated with permanent vinyl.
RELATED READING: Merry and Bright SVG Free Designs (So Many Styles)
Dear Santa SVG Collection
If you want a good chuckle and a set of funny designs, this Dear Santa SVG design round up will have you snickering in seconds. So many people have shown me their shirts for kids created with these (and some adult ones that have made me laugh out loud).
Christmas T-Shirts for the Entire Family: Claus Family
There are 29 different designs in this Claus Family Christmas SVG bundle. The best part of this for beginners is that there are only two colors of heat transfer vinyl needed and you can do it in sections. This is a fun one for family holiday shirts or Christmas pajamas.
Elf Family Christmas SVG for Cricut and Silhouette
If you’re making Christmas pajamas and want a fun theme for the extended crew, these elf family Christmas shirt SVG designs are a perfect match. If you’re a beginner to making t-shirts with the Cricut, cut the elf in one color with the bell and hat as accents in another.
More Christmas Cricut Craft Ideas for Beginners
- Easy Dollar Tree Mug Cricut Tutorial – In just a few minutes with a single cut of permanent vinyl, you can make a mug for any ocassion, holiday, or gift.
- One-Cut Mini Canvas Decor – My daughter did a similar project the first time she used a Cricut and this one is a very quick crafting win.
- How to Make a Cricut Infusible Ink™ Pillow – This single-cut, easy craft just needs a sheet of Cricut’s Infusible Ink™, a heat press, and your machine. It looks so beautiful.
Ways to Use These Christmas T-Shirt Ideas for Cricut
- make shirts as gifts or for yourself (physical shirts, hoodies, dog banadanas, etc.)
- create shirts and hoodies to sell using the design as-is (physical goods)
- cut paper, vinyl, wood, and infusible ink for yourself and others
- create sublimation products (physical goods only; no digital use)
Ways You Cannot Use These Files
- you may never offer these files digitally (for sale or free); that will be considered theft
- you may not post them to Facebook groups, digital drive shares, or distribute in any digital form (email, external drive, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.)
- you will not upload to any Print on Demand service as-is (no POD)
- you will not use these designs to create new work (aka derivative works)
