adventures with freezer paper: beck and tate's t-shirts

i have been wanting to try using a freezer paper stencil to make something for a while now, but i couldn't find the perfect first project. my friend tira's boys turn 5 this week and their birthday party was on saturday. i decided that i was going to make them some graphic tees using a freezer paper stencil.

here's a little tutorial...i know there are millions of tutorials on the interweb, but i like to show the process.

materials needed:

-pre-washed item to be painted (t-shirt)

-image for stencil (i wanted to do a simple shape, because i wasn't sure how well the whole process would work.)

-freezer paper

-fabric paint (i here acrylic paints work fine, but i am thinking the fabric paint is maybe a little softer.)

-paint brush

-exacto knife

-iron

 

step one: cut out stencil

remember you are making a negative and the places you cut out will be where the paint will be. i taped my image and a few layers of freezer paper (so that i could have a couple of copies of the stencil) onto a cutting mat. 

step two: arrange stencil on surface to be painted with the plastic side of the freezer paper down.

 

step three: iron down with medium heat making sure to get a good bond.

step four: paint! use a thick layer of paint, so that there won't be any fabric showing through.

step five: dry for 48hrs

step six: wash and let item air dry!

and you're all done-congrats! now you need to find a way to use that enormous roll of freezer paper you bought...

i paired each shirt with a matching matchbox toy:

i was surprised at how well it worked. i tiny bit of paint got under my stencil on the borders, but i think they still turned out really nice. i am excited for my next adventure with freezer paper.