Freezer Paper Stencil 2 : From Drab to Fab

Taking a $3.00 Walmart t-shirt from drab.....

To Fab! I used my Cricut Expression again for this project! This is similart to my tutorial on freezer paper stenciling with a twist. My inspiration for the pink shirt came from this adult t-shirt I just bought at Target! Using my Home Decor Cartridge I found some simple flower shapes that I liked and followed the directions in my other tutorial for cutting the freezer paper stencil. I then laid my templates on top of an old knit shirt that I had and ironed the stencil on shiny side down. I then backed the fabric with an iron on adhesive. (I used the Heat n' Bond brand.) This way I'll be able to iron my cut fabrics onto the t-shirt later. I then cut around the stencils leaving a tiny edge on the outside so I had more room to sew. (Sorry, no picture!) Once you're done, peel off the backing from the iron adhesive and any trim leftover from the freezer paper. I then had these 3 different flower shapes and arranged them onto the t-shirt where I wanted them.Iron them on with the adhesive side down. Now you can go two different ways. You can either hand stitch or machine stitch around the edges to hold the appliqued images down. I decided to hand sew mine with some embroidery thread. Next time I'll machine stitch because this took FOREVER and killed my fingers! I need to get a thimble and some rubber things for my fingers. The embroidery thread was so thick going through the knit that it took a lot of effort and I had to quit half way through because my fingers hurt so bad. I eventually used a scrap of denim to help pull the needle through which helped save my fingers. I just did some simple stitches around the border of the flowers. You could use a contrasting thread or match the fabric depending on the look you want. When you finish sewing you can embelish it with some beads or other things. I decided I liked the simple look so I just left it as pictured at the top of the post! For the blue shirt I once again followed the other freezer paper stencil tutorial. This time I had a more intricate design, so I kept the freezer paper stencil pieces together and ironed the whole piece on. I then peeled off the pieces so I could paint inside. The flowers had tiny little pieces that I ended up picking out and ironing back on.

After the paint dried I added a cute little bird to the branch...ironing right over the other paint and it worked fine. I also used the Home Decor cartridge for these. Nothing says spring to me like some blossoming flowers and a birdie on a branch!

I also added a little pink paint to the flowers using a dry brush techinique. I added a little fabric paint to a dry brush and then wiped most of it off. I touched up the flowers while the paint was still damp so it would mix a little.

I also painted teh bird's feet orange while it was still in the stencil so you could see his cute feet!

And there you have it! Two shirts for 6 dollars and a little extra love and attention! The possibilities are endless!

I also made a cupcake shirt by cutting out fabric with my cricut and following the same techniques. I'll get to a tutorial on that sometime. Here's a quick picture of it!