Heart and Habit

I used to print or hand paint t-shirts all the time! My husband has a whole shelf of t-shirts I made for him (some really embarrassingly funny), Kingston has a bunch of onesies I printed when he was still in the womb, and some family and friends have a few. It’s been way too long since I have made any tees (last one was for King, when he was still in my belly), so I decided to get back to hand printing some tees (I really love doing this). I thought maybe some of you might be interested in making one too, so here’s a quick little DIY with a download for the stencil.

I did a Freezer Paper stencil tutorial a couple months back (and so have about a ca-gillion other blogs), it’s a , if you have never done printing with freezer paper: follow these steps to learn how. Otherwise onward to print a cute little tee!

• T-Shirt (I used an Old Navy Pocket Tee). But you could use any plain tee, maybe place the glasses so they look like they are hanging over the collar if there is no pocket.
• Paintbrushes. I like to use a round stencil brush for the main stencil,  a 1/2″ flat brush for larger areas, and a tiny little paintbrush for finishing details (and fixing mistakes).
• Fabric Paint. In what ever colors you please. I use Dylon or Pebeo, but you can also buy an Acrylic Fabric Medium (which when mixed with any acrylic paint makes it workable on fabric).
• Freezer Paper. Which you can find in most large grocery stores.
• Iron. 
• Self mending mat for cutting. (or an old magazine).
• Exact-o Knife.  For cutting out the stencil. not pictured
• Ruler or Rulers. Metal cork back ruler (which is great for cutting), a one to measure the surface our going to print on. 
• Magazine. This is to put between fabric layers when printing (to prevent bleeding). You can use the same magazine you used for cutting.

Download the glasses image below (I made an adult size and child). Print out  the image and trace onto a piece of freezer paper (the dull side is the right side up). Using your exacto knife (over a self mending mat to protect your table), cut out all the pieces. I cut the glasses arms separate,  but you don’t have too.

Place your stencil (iron it in place), I did the glasses arms first and added a tiny tiny bit of white to the black paint (so it would look less prominent as if it was in the background.

If you printed like I did, glasses arms separate. Wait for the paint to dry. Then place the other half of the stencil, don’t forget the inside of the glasses!

Paint inside the stencil, I like to use a round stipple brush.Wait for the paint to dry a bit before peeling back the stencil.

Once the paint is totally dry, either hand paint the little diamond in the corner of the glasses, or place the glasses cut out as the stencil. If you like you could paint the inside of the glasses here, making them look like sunglasses (maybe use a thin layer of a charcoal grey). And yes, I know I could use a manicure!:)

Let dry, and iron so the paint sets.

And voila! Super cute one-of-a-kind little tee, great for a little girl or boy…or mom and dad!

King LOVES his new tee!

DOWNLOADS (for personal use only, please): Kids sized glasses . Adult sized glasses. (click the links below then right click>save as on the image)

What do you think of this tutorial? If you dig it, I will share my stencils for tee printing more often!