A couple of weeks ago a cute photo of a kid in a T-shirt popped up in my Instagram feed. It was the son of a blogger that I follow, and the shirt was a play on the See you Later Alligator children’s rhyme.
And I instantly knew two things:
- The shirt was not going to be available in adult sizes.
- That wasn’t going to matter because I was going to make my own.
My standard method for creating one-off shirts is the freezer paper stencil.
I’ve detailed this process a few times, but I’ve had a few questions on some of this, so I thought I’d share the basics again.
Freezer paper is the key craft item here. It’s in the same aisle as plastic wrap and foil, and at the three grocery stores I shop at, it is placed ridiculously down low so it’s hard to find.
Be careful not to buy wax paper, it’s the not the same thing. Here’s what you are looking for:
Fun fact – this also seems to come in only one enormous size box, and the only place I can store it in my 1950s-built kitchen is in the wall oven that doesn’t work any more. All the other drawers are too small.
For the design, you have options. You can buy a design online, find a free file, or create your own. The great thing about fabric painting is that you don’t have to have a lot of detail to make the image work, so you don’t have to be a super great artist to draw up your own stencil.
I drew up my design in Adobe Illustrator, and then exported that file as a DXF because the basic version of Silhouette Studio won’t accept an EPS or AI file, but it has no trouble with the DXF format.
The shiny side of the Freezer Paper is plastic coated, and that’s what lightly melts it to the T-Shirt when you iron it. But to cut it, you want the paper side down on the Silhouette mat. That means your image needs to be flipped horizontally so that when it is painted, the letters will be right reading.
I use the “Vinyl Glossy” cutting settings when I cut Freezer Paper stencils. Once the paper is cut, remember to weed it the opposite way of a sticker – the paint is going to go where the paper isn’t, so you pull the image parts off, leaving the stencil behind. Any little bits that aren’t attached will need to be hand placed on the shirt, but that sounds harder than it is.
First, iron the area on the shirt where the stencil is going to go so it isn’t all wrinkly. Then place the biggest piece of the stencil, shiny side down, and make sure it is straight before ironing it down. I use the dry (no steam) iron set on Cotton. Make sure the stencil is firmly adhered, and then add in the little pieces that weren’t connected. You might have to use a toothpick or tweezers to nudge them into place, but once you’ve got them, just put the iron down on top and let it set for a second before starting to move.
Once everything is ironed down nice and tight, break out your fabric paints and get to work. I like to put a cereal box between the front and back of the shirt to keep the paint from bleeding through.
I let the paint dry about a half hour or so before peeling up the freezer paper, and then I let the entire project dry overnight. My paint bottle says after 24 hours to turn the shirt inside out and iron over the painted area from the other side to set the paint.
One quick note:
You don’t need a Silhouette Cameo or other cutting machine to do freezer paper stencils. The best way to do without one is to print your design out on printer paper and then put the freezer paper down on top and trace the design onto it before cutting with an X-acto knife. Be sure to cut on a self-healing mat and NOT on the dining room table if you go this route 🙂 .
Pin this project so you can find it … later?
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