A lot of people have been asking me how to print t-shirts lately. Must be the warm weather approaching. Silkscreening is definitely a skill to have under your belt but it’s a lot of equipment and labor if you just want one awesome shirt or dress up a pair of shoes. The solution? Freezer paper.

You will need:

• iron and board
• big table or other CLEAN flat surface
• freezer paper – we used Reynold’s
• computer with printer and photoshop or GIMP (recommended)
• x-acto or other small matte knives
• cardboard or cutting mat
• sheets of white paper (for pressing)
• acrylic paints
• fabric medium (optional but recommended if making t-shirts)
• 1 kitchen sponge cut up in 2″ pieces
• shallow tray to hold paint
• pencils
• clear contact paper or pressing vinyl (optional – used for making stencils reusable
• something cotton or 50/50 blend to print on (t-shirts, canvas, pillowcase, etc.)
• a design to print

We used Golden paints and mediums. I find that artist acrylics work better than fabric paint for this project and are more versatile in general.

To Be Done In Advance:

1. Prepare designs for stenciling:

Pick a design made up of simple lines and shapes and use a photocopy machine, or design program like Photoshop or GIMP to resize it for your project. For beginners, silhouettes, like Pooja’s bird above work great.

If you have picked a photograph or other complicated design, you will need to simplify it before cutting out the stencil. If using a design program like Photoshop or GIMP, try posterizing the image to 2 levels, or using the photocopy filter. Your goal is to reduce the colors in the image to 2 – black and white, and to have the edges of your design very clear. If using a copy machine, boost up the contrast setting, if possible.

Print out the final design. If you’ve never cut out a stencil before, it’s important to remember that every area that you do not want the color to go must be connected to the main body of the stencil. Do do so, you may need to add bridges between the different shapes. Using a sharpie, trace out the exact edges of the shapes and add bridges where needed. These new lines will be your cutting guide.

2. Turn on iron and set to warm (no steam).
3. If printing on washable fabrics (t-shirts), mix fabric medium w/ paint according to directions and cover trays with plastic wrap.

How To Make Stencil:

1. Cut off a piece of freezer paper a little bigger than the design you want to print.
2. Trace design onto the dull side of freezer paper.
3. Cut out design using x-acto (and cutting mat or cardboard). You can get a couple more prints out of the same stencil if you put contact paper on the top of the freezer paper before cutting the design out.
4. Position freezer paper on fabric with shiny side down, cover with pressing sheet and iron on.

How To Paint:

1. Dab sponge in paint and blot a little against side of tray. This spreads out paint for even application.
2. Start at edge of design and dab up and down to fill in stencil. Do not brush or rub – this will cause bleeding at the edges.
3. Go over any sparse areas again to fill in design
4. Pull off stencil using one hand to hold down fabric (as shown above).

You’re Done!

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