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Advices for application of costumes' accessories

This section contains some tips and advices to ensure a correct application of the purchased/downloaded insignia. It is almost a FAQ page. If you happen to have a doubt about application not addressed below, feel free to contact us and we will be glad to help you.

1) How to correctly print your insignia - for Downloadable DIY sets only

The first step to ensure that your insignia will "look good" on your shirt/tie/hat is to print them properly. Make sure to print in color and, for better results, you may use the printer's options that enable a high printing quality.

2) How to properly cut your insignia - for Downloadable DIY sets only

The second step to ensure that your insignia will "look good" on your shirt/tie/hat is to cut them properly. Make sure to cut them carefully and not to leave any white areas around the image. Otherwise, once applied, it will show on your shirt/tie/hat. If a white area is present on the edge and part of the insignia, it will be bordered properly so you will be able to crop the image with a smooth cut.

3) How to properly apply your insignia

There is a great difference wheather you have purchased those insignia from us or have downloaded them from the website. At the moment no insignia are available for sale, so this point will focus exclusively on the downloadable DIY sets. Given that all the insignia will be printed on transfer paper, We need to distinguish several cases:

- insignia for shirt: the only advice we can provide here is to closely follow the instructions of the transfer paper's manufacturer in order to ensure a proper application on your dress shirt of the said items.

- insignia for tie (tie clip): if you have a tie you do not need to iron the tie clip on it. Just cut it into a bigger shape, making sure to leave some edge around the image. Once separated from the rest of the insignia on the sheet/s, apply a piece of clear tape (scotch) on it. Make sure not to leave any bubbles when applying the tape. Once done that, cut carefully the tie clip.
In order to fasten it, proceed as following: place the cut tie clip on the desired spot on the tie. Then fold its sides on the back, making sure to fold in correspondence of the tie's sides. You should have both sides of the tie clip now overlapping one above the other.Now you can fasten them in several ways: by gluing them, by stapling them or simply by rolling a piece of clear tape around them. Since the tie grows wider at the bottom, the tie clip will remain in place (especially if the side folds are well tighened to the tie).
If you wish so, you can skip the clear tape step. We advise to do that for 2 reasons: the clear tape gives the tie a "shiny" appeanace, making it closer to the real thing and it laminates the tie clip giving it higher resistance to scratches.

- insignia for the hat (hat device and/or chinstrap) In a similar way to the tie clip, you do not need to iron the hat device and/or chinstrap where provided. Just cut them with a good edge and laminate them with a clear tape. The "typical" office clear tape will not be wider enough to cover the hat device, so you may either want to place several stripes of tape one next to each other or simply cover the whole image with a wider tape. As for the fastening, you may proceed as follows: for the hat device, remove the existing hat device (if present) from your halloween hat (make sure not to damage the hat in the meanwhile). Then glue the hat device from your DIY set in place. For this step we advise to use a strong glue. As for the chinstrap, if you wish to replace it with the one eventually provided in the DIY set, carefully remove the buttons and the existing chinstrap. You may need to cut the downloadable chinstrap on the lenght in order to have it fit on your hat. Then, "drill" the holes in correspondence of the exsisting holes on your hat. Position the buttons back in place. If you wish so, you may even glue the chinstrap in order to hold it well in place, before applying buttons back.



4) Advanced application - for Downloadable DIY sets only

If you want to take full advantage of the DIY sets, then you may be ready to take a further step.
The following items can be printed and attached in different ways, other than by printing them on transfer paper and ironing them.

- police breast badge/badge set: you can print them on thin cardstock and laminate them with a clear tape wide enough to cover them. Then stick on the backside adhesive velcro. One part of the velcro will be attached to the shirt, and the other one on the badge. The badge can be then removed before washing the shirt. For a better job, we advise to use adhesive velcro on the backside of the badge/badge set, and sew non-adhesive velcro on the shirt. If you wish to use adhesive velcro on both shirt and badge, you may always remove the velcro from the shirt before washing it, then re-applying it again. As for the lamination, covering it with clear tape provides a shiner appearance, making it closer to the real item.

- hat device: you may print it on thin cardstock and laminate it in order to give it a more rigid and shiner appearance, brining it closer to the real item.

5) Tips for re-using your costume - for Downloadable DIY sets only

If you liked your costume and wish to re-use it, you can do that: the tie clip can always be removed without problem if you followed the above procedure. As for your hat, it is going to be fine, unless you sit on it. Regarding the shirt, follow the manufacturer's washing instructions on the label. The only important tip is about the ironing: do not iron directly on the insignia, but eiter iron the shirt from the inside or, if you iron it normally from the outside, place a piece of cloth on the insignia before passing over them with the iron. Also, remember to remove any insignia that can be removed (such as the ones affixed with velcro).