Wednesday, July 3, 2013

I {heart} the USA T-shirt

Happy Wednesday!  I am the featured Paper Crafting World (PCW) Designer at MyPaperCrafting.com today and I'm sharing a patriotic t-shirt I made for my 9 year old daughter.  The cutting file is called "I Heart the USA" and it is currently on sale at PaperCraftingWorld.com for 75 cents!  I love Melin's files -- they are so easy to work with and they always cut so cleanly.


This shirt was so quick and easy -- you could make one today and be wearing it tomorrow.  I used the "freezer paper" technique to create this shirt (instructions below):


The short version of how to make these shirts is:
  1. Go to the grocery, buy a roll of freezer paper. (Contact paper works well, too.)
  2. Cut said freezer paper to fit your cutting mat.
  3. Place freezer paper matte side down on your mat. (The shiny side really doesn't stick well, so if you're doing text you need to reverse it to have it cut properly.)
  4. Choose your design and cut it out using a low to medium pressure.
  5. Iron the freezer paper, shiny-side down, onto your t-shirt.
  6. Iron a second solid piece of freezer paper to the inside of your shirt. (This keeps the paint from bleeding through to the back side of your shirt.)
  7. Paint design with fabric paints.
  8. LET IT DRY! (Don't be tempted to peel it up before it has completely dried. It peels up the edges of your design.)
  9. Carefully peel off the freezer paper from the inner and outer surfaces of the shirt.
  10. Viola! You have a work of art that looks like it was screen-printed!
The shirts created with this method honestly look like they were screen-printed. The only drawback that we have discovered thus far is this . . . they do not like the dryer. You must wash them inside out and hang them to dry or the painted image will begin to crack.  Here's another tip:   Do not use softener or dryer sheets when you pre-wash your shirt.  The paint has a tendency to peel.

I use Tulip brand "Soft" paints and an inexpensive foam brush for large areas and artist's paint brushes for smaller areas and detailing.  The sleeves were folded over twice and tacked in place with thread.  I heat sealed the ends of some striped ribbon and tacked it down with a shiny blue star button.  My daughter loves her new t-shirt!


Thanks so much for stopping by.  We're changing things up this summer -- so make sure you stop by each and every day to see new projects and check in on Fridays for a freebie!  It's going to be a sizzlin' summer at MyPaperCrafting.com!

~ Jen

 P.S.  I'm linking up my t-shirt at the following blog challenges:

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