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Friday, February 14, 2014

Design a Tee program on Monday for grades 6-12

There's no school on Monday, so why not head to the library to make a fun and easy project! Design a Tee is for grades 6-12 and will be held in the downstairs Craft Room. Please register in advance!

Bring along a plain t-shirt and a design on 8 1/2 x 11 paper (or use one of the designs on hand). Choose a simple design for your shirt; silhouettes are good.

Here are the step by step instructions for designing your own t-shirt that we will use at the program. First, choose your design.

Next, trace the design onto freezer paper. Freezer paper can be found in the aisle with aluminum foil and plastic wrap at the grocery store.

 The shiny side of the freezer paper should be face down.

Once you finish tracing the design, carefully cut along the lines using an exacto knife.



Place your shirt over the ironing board and iron the shirt first to smooth any wrinkles. Be sure to center the design.
Using an iron, press down onto the paper. The heat will adhere the freezer paper to the t-shirt.

Once the design is ironed on to your shirt, move your shirt to a table. Insert a piece of cardboard inside of the shirt under the design. Make sure the cardboard is under the area where you will be painting.

Choose your color of paint. We are using Tulip Soft Matte Fabric Paint. Joann Fabrics sells small bottles or larger tubes of this paint.

Small craft foam brushes work well to apply the paint for this project.
Apply the paint from the outside of the stencil to inside. This prevents paint from leaking under the seam between the freezer paper and the shirt.


Allow the first coat to dry and apply additional coats as needed.


When you are done, simply peel back the freezer paper from the t-shirt to reveal your creation!

Allow the shirt to dry flat for 24 hours before you wear your shirt. This project was inspired by the  Tuts + craft blog.

I hope to see you at Monday's Design a Tee program!