My airplane t-shirts (with tutorial)
Now that this semester is over, I had some time to burn yesterday… so I painted these airplane tees!
If you’d like a tutorial on how to make your own shirts like these, I’ll provide one at the bottom of this post. :)
So now for the tutorial! :) (I’ll use the pictures I took when I made a t-shirt for the Plane & Simple blog!)
What you’ll need:
- A printed out image/logo/etc. of what you want stenciled
- X-acto knife (or something similar)
- Freezer paper
- An old magazine
- Iron
- Paint brush
- Acrylic paint
- Plain t-shirt
So let’s start out with your image - if you’re just starting off, use a relatively simple image with just two colors. The more complex your image, the more cutting and difficulty. Also, letters are incredibly time consuming and difficult to do - so I only recommend letters if you have the time and patience.
Cut out a sheet of freezer paper that will cover your image completely, then tape the freezer paper (shiny side down) on top of the image. It’s important that the shiny side is down (you’ll see why in a second)…
Place an old magazine underneath your image so that your knife doesn’t cut through and damage whatever you’re cutting on.
Now (carefully!!!) use your X-acto knife to trace around the image like so…
When your image is completely cut out, you’ll have your stencil!
Remove the original sheet of paper so you only have the freezer paper in hand. Take that freezer paper and place it on your t-shirt where ever you want it.
Plug in your iron and set it on cotton setting. It doesn’t have to be fully heated up in order for this next process to work.
Place your iron on the stencil that is placed on your shirt. If the iron is warm enough, it will make the freezer paper adhere to the t-shirt.
Wait for your shirt/stencil to cool before you start painting.
Remember that old magazine you were using when you cut out your image? Take that same magazine and place it between the front and back of the shirt (where your body would be). This prevents the paint from bleeding through the shirt.
You’ll want to use acrylic paint. You can find this in any craft store.
When you begin painting, be sure your paint is situated close to your stencil to prevent any drops landing on your shirt. You don’t need any special paint brush - just a cheap one that’ll do the job!
When you’re done painting, it should look something like this -
Now let the paint dry.
If you’re using white paint, I recommend letting the paint dry and then paint another layer on. In fact, I always recommend a second layer of paint no matter what color - but if you’re short on time, one layer will do.
After your paint is dry, you can peel up the stencil.
Vola!
Your shirt should look something like this -
For this shirt, I hand painted (in red) the letters that had spaces in them such as the P, A, & and O. I also covered up that little drop that landed to the left of the left plane.
Now, the final and most important step is putting your shirt (inside-out) in the dryer on high heat before you wash/wear it. By putting it in the dryer, it sets the paint - which will make your shirt last longer. Craking in the paint is to be expected - after all, it’s a homemade thing. But it looks awesome nonetheless.
If you have any questions, feel free to message me!
Enjoy!
