How to Cut Large Vinyl Decals

I have missed a few posts here on the blog because I’ve been helping my husband start a business! He is going to be a mobile mechanic and we are so excited for him to be putting his time to build a business and help people with their vehicles! He has been focusing on fixing cars and I have been focused on making his work truck look nice! We found the perfect pattern on Creative Market. All I had to do was cut it in vinyl and put it on the truck! Trust me, this is easier said than done! If you have a Silhouette Cameo and a desire to make a giant vinyl decal or stencil, let me tell you what you need to know to get it done!

• Quality Vinyl (Oracal 631 or 651)
• Quality transfer tape
• Masking tape
• An extra set of hands
• Patience

First, I will only buy vinyl from 651Vinyl. For this project I tried to use some off brand vinyl off Amazon and it was a MAJOR disappointment! 651 Vinyl has Oracal 651 for the best deal and they are so quick with shipping! Trust me, you’ll love them! I also recommend their transfer tape because it is a good deal and works great!

When you’re cutting the design, make sure that it will overlap a little bit! It makes it so much easier to line it up later! You can do that by using the “tiling” setting (business edition software) in the Margin box, or you can duplicate the design and use the knife tool to cut each piece so they will overlap by just 1/4 of an inch.

After I had cut and weeded the design (where I used most of my patience), I lined them up on my kitchen counter and used masking tape to tape the seam. Then I put the transfer tape over the top of the whole design. This way I didn’t have to try to match it up on the truck! That would be hard for me!

Then I pulled the paper backing off of half of the vinyl and lined it up on the truck, and stuck it down. I asked my husband to help me make sure things were lined up, because in the times I didn’t things went wrong. Then I peeled off the other half of the vinyl backing and smoothed out the second half. I had to use a razor blade to cut around the handles and make it look clean!

Here is the vinyl on one side of the truck!

After HOURS of cutting and weeding, the truck is done! I like it how it is, but my husband wants to add a green stripe along the top of the bed. Leave me a comment to tell me if I should add the green stripe, or leave it as it is!