This Valentine’s Day have your child customize their own shirt to wear to their school’s party. It’s super easy and if you stick to simple shapes, you can do this without purchasing an expensive craft machine to do it. I do recommend that an adult do the first three steps and any ironing that is involved.
What you’ll need:
- Shirt
- An image of your choice printed out
- Freezer paper
- Heat transfer vinyl OR iron on material {not necessary}
- Exacto knife
- Fabric paint {color of your choice}
- Disposable plate
- Foam brush
- Iron {medium to high setting, NO steam}
- Sheet of cardboard
Directions:
- Cut a sheet of freezer paper to lay over your image. You can either trace the image onto the freezer paper and then cut OR place the freezer paper over your image and cut with an Exacto knife to save time.
2. Remove the image carefully from your stencil making sure not to tear it.
3. To prevent your shirt from adhering together, place a sheet of cardboard in between your shirt.
4. Place the stencil with the shiny side down onto your shirt and run an iron over it. This will adhere the stencil to your shirt and prevent any fabric paint to bleed under your stencil.
5. Place a dollop of fabric paint onto a disposable plate and use your foam brush to gently dab the color onto the shirt. Allow the shirt to dry for 30-60 mins before you add another layer of paint. I used three coats of fabric paint to make sure my color would show on a darker colored shirt.
6. Allow the paint to fully dry before you remove the freezer paper stencil. This can take anywhere from 2-6 hours to dry {depends on how patient you are}.
7. You can also add any other embellishments that you may want to your shirt like iron letters that you can get at the craft store. In my case, I chose to cut a heart out of a scrap of heat transfer vinyl that I already had at home. I simply ironed it to my shirt.
8. Place a pillowcase or sheet of parchment paper over your design and run the iron over it again to seal in the fabric paint.
My son loved designing his own shirt and the possibilities are endless! I know that it may seem like a lot of steps but once you make your first shirt the next one will be a cinch. Happy crafting with your kiddos!