DIY Your Own Custom Stadium Seats!

Learn how to make your own custom stadium seats and how to apply HTV to polyester by following this tutorial!

Hi Friends!  Have you ever wondered if you could apply heat transfer vinyl to tough polyester?  Well, I wondered the same thing, so of course, I had to try it! 

We got these plain black stadium chairs from Costco last year and I knew I needed to decorate them somehow.  My daughter will be starting high school in the fall so I went ahead and got us started on Bulldog merchandise for cheap and these custom stadium seats turned out perfect!

Materials Needed for Custom Stadium Seats:

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links from Amazon, Cricut and/or Expressions Vinyl. I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my links.

• Stadium Seat- I used a Costco stadium seat but you can also find them on Amazon here
• Heat Transfer Vinyl (or HTV) – I use Siser Easyweed from Expressions Vinyl (click here!)
• Cricut or another electronic cutting machine
• Heat Press – this is one I use

Personalizing a Costco Stadium Seat

This project is super easy to do if you have a Cricut or other cutting machine.  I absolutely love mine and do most of my projects with it.  You can check out my ultimate resource guide of Cricut ideas by clicking here!  

I designed my image in Cricut Design Space and cut it out on “iron-on vinyl” setting (glossy side of HTV goes down on mat).  Once it’s cut, weed out all the extra vinyl. If you’d like to watch my video tutorial on cutting and weeding vinyl click here!

To prepare the material, unscrew the polyester backing of the Costco stadium seat and slide it off (this takes a little muscle!)

For my heat-press, 285’F worked the best.  Preheat your heat-press until 285 is reached and press the backing in half so you get a line for the middle mark.

(If you need step by step directions and video on this part, check out my tutorial here on how to use a heat press!)

I fold the vinyl in half to get a crease and then align the two together so I know it’s in the middle.

I allowed one side that’s double folded to hang off so I could get a better press.  I turned the pressure up to as high as I could go and still get the press to lock down.  I pressed for 25 seconds, lifted up the handle, and then peeled off the backing. 

(Peel it slowly.  If it’s not sticking press again or turn your heat up a little bit.  I ended up pressing it again with the other side hanging off since it was the first and last letters that didn’t want to adhere.)

Then add the bottom layer of your image, put a Teflon sheet over it, and press again.

Keep adding the layers one at a time, pressing, and then peel off the backing.

Once everything was on, I pressed it one more time with a teflon sheet over it.

Putting Back Together a Personalized Stadium Seat

My hubby then pulled the bars together on the chair while I slid the backing on (it’s definitely a two-person job!).  Attach the screws and you’re set to go with new custom stadium seats!

These custom stadium seats are super easy to carry and use during those long hours of sitting on bleachers at basketball, football, or baseball games!  They definitely save your back and also would make great gifts!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a creative day!

 

If you’d like to save this custom stadium seats tutorial for later, you can PIN it now if you’d like!