DIY Screenprinting?

 sounds too good to be true huh! at least that is what I thought, I am so lame... I said in my last blog that I wouldn't do another tutorial for a long time... so I lied.. this stuff is too good not to share.

Today I am going to haphazardly show you how to screen print your own t-shirts at home.

First things first, find a blank shirt. I made mine from a tutorial from the awesome blog "Made"  it is her 90 minute shirt, I love her style! I am sure we would be best friends if we ever met.  I got this tutorial from her as well. but I am writing it here too, mostly because I think that this at home "screen printing" might be my newest addiction!

Next you need to find a design you love, I love owls I think they are so super cute, so that is what I picked. Then you draw your design on the dull side of a piece of freezer paper. We all know from my last tutorial that is what i draw my patterns on so I just used a scrap from one of my patterns. When you are drawing out the stencil keep in mind of what you want to be the shirt color and what you want to be the paint color. then cut out all of the pieces that you are going to be painting. Lay the stencil down on the fabric where you want the design (glossy side down) and iron in to the shirt. Wha-La it is stuck!

 Fabric Paint, I got the tulip brand paint at Michael's for $1.69 and the paint brush was $.30 so this was pretty cheep to do. I picked white paint for the shirt to match the white trim. Paige was mad at me because she wanted me to use the pink paint. I told her next time.

Make sure when painting over your stencil that you don't go out side of the stencil, also I put a board in between the two layers of the shirt so had a hard surface behind it. I used two coats of paint to get it covered the way I wanted it. (but that is mostly preference)  let the paint dry at least an hour before applying your next coat. then when it is all dry to set the paint you need to use a hot Iron and Press it. Don't Iron directly over the image, I put a piece of parchment paper over the top of the design. There you have it your DIY screen print is Done! It is sure to bring out the lion in you.

 HAPPY SCREEN PRINTING!!!