Freezer Paper Stencil - for fabric painting - DL

[SGRAHA]

I used Kelly's two tutes on negative sponge painting and blended painting, and i love them both. But i wanted to do one with a regular freezer paper stencil. Since we didn't have a tute for that i took pictures as i went along.

What you need -
freezer paper
design to trace
iron
fabric
fabric paints
x-acto knife
scotch tape
pen

Step 1 - Pick a design you want to trace. I go to google and type in what i want to find something. TIP - type in silhouette to whatever you are looking for ex: unicorn silhouette, that will get you nicer black and white pictures that are easier to trace and cut :-)
Print out design on regular computer paper. If it's not dark enough, change your printer settings darker so it's easy to trace.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/SarahBethGraham/stencil1.jpg

Step 2 -
Lay the freezer paper over your template and trace carefully with a pen ( i wouldn't use pencil as i worried the pencil would smear into the paint, i've never had issue using a ball point pen).
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/SarahBethGraham/stencil2.jpg

Step 3 -
Cut the freezer paper down to a manageable size, leaving enough around your image to catch any sponge overs of paint.
Tape down to a self healing cutting mat.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/SarahBethGraham/stencil3.jpg

Step 4 -
Carefully cut out your design using an x-acto knife. Cut the smallest areas out first and then the larger areas. Just take your time and go slow.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/SarahBethGraham/stencil5.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/SarahBethGraham/stencil4.jpg

Step 5 -
Carefully remove from cutting board and cut off tape around edges, do not attempt to fold tape over, you could end up ironing it to your shirt or making a very sticky mess. Also you don't want to rip it off for obvious reasons, you'd probably rip your template after all that hard work. TIP - leave your piece extra large after tracing to have extra freezer paper to cut off w/ the tape.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/SarahBethGraham/100_8295.jpg

Step 6 -
Iron your fabric or clothing you are applying it to.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/SarahBethGraham/stencil6.jpg

Step 7 -
Place stencil where you'd like the design, and carefully iron over it until the template is fused to the shirt. Going over the small areas very carefully so you don't wrinkle/bend the template while ironing.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/SarahBethGraham/stencil7.jpg

Step 8 -
Let the template/shirt cool. And gather your painting supplies. I use fabric paints i bought at JAs and a sponge dabber. I also use a paper plate to squirt my paint on and dab my sponge so it's not too saturated w/ paint.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/SarahBethGraham/stencil9.jpg

Step 9 -
Carefully dab your paint over the stencil. I do one coating then let it dry a bit and decide if i need to add more layers to make the design darker. In this case i did 3 layers total as i was working on a navy sweatshirt fleece.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/SarahBethGraham/stencil10.jpg

Step 10 -
Let it dry w/ the freezer paper stencil in place for at least 30 minutes. You can wait until it's totally dry if you want, but i'm always too anxious and want to look.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/SarahBethGraham/stencill11.jpg

Step 11 -
Very carefully peel off the freezer paper. I just go really slow and watch the parts w/ delicate pieces.
ENJOY!
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/SarahBethGraham/stencil12.jpg

Let it dry completely. I usually wait 24 hours to be sure, but you can check your paint bottles to see what they recommend. Same goes for washing/drying. I generally turn inside out to wash on cold and then i hang to dry.
Have fun!

[anacris]

Very nice and soooo easy!

[Chrisnkelley]

Very nice Sarah! You did a great job getting those tiny details in!

[jasar31629]

Very nice! Dd would love that stencil!

I've had luck printing directly onto the freezer paper too- speeds things along if it's possible with your printer.

[CalicoPrairie]

That is so cool, Sarah! I've used this method before and it works SO well.

[amandanmv]

I want to try this. Where did you get that tiny knife tip?

[guest]

Very nice! Dd would love that stencil!

I've had luck printing directly onto the freezer paper too- speeds things along if it's possible with your printer.

Me too! Cut the freezer paper to 8 1/2 x 11 and manually feed. Makes it MUCH easier for me

Your tute is FAB!

[Mabel]

Thank you!!!

[lullypop]

I've been wanting to try out stenciling, but too lazy to check up how to do it- so thanks for posting this (seemingly) easy method! :-)

[5forUs]

I just tried this and it came out SO cute!!! Thank you b/c it was so much easier then I thought it would be. As you can guess all my kids are getting some Tee's with stenciling on them for Christmas now! :lol:

[charlene]

Can the freezer paper stencils be reused? I'd like to do some for my girls and am wondering if I need to cut out multiples of the same stencil or not?

thanks

[SGRAHA]

Can the freezer paper stencils be reused? I'd like to do some for my girls and am wondering if I need to cut out multiples of the same stencil or not?

thanks

No you would want to do a separate stencil for each shirt. One you iron them down you really can't reiron them down and the dried paint from painting the shirt would make it yucky.

HTH! Have fun!

[lisastwins2002]

Great tute!

[neeley]

great job and super tute. i am definitely going to try this for my boys. awesome!!

[DydeeDaze]

Thank you!