freezer paper stencil tutorial

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after using freezer paper to make that produce mat, i've been itching to use it for something else...  and i have a ridiculous amount of clothes, even after getting rid of a goodly amount when i moved so i decided to upgrade one of my old tees with a freezer paper stencil.  freezer paper stencil is remarkably easy, well depending on the complexity of your design, and the results are pretty good.  i was surprised by the nice, crisp lines.

what you'll need:
-freezer paper
-parchment paper
-scissors/x-acto knife
-t-shirt
-iron
-paint/paint brush

first, tear a piece of freezer paper roughly the size of your shirt or design.  you'll need a piece of parchment paper about the same size as well.  i just sketched my idea onto the matte side of the freezer paper but it's probably better to draw it on something else and then trace it onto the freezer paper.

next cut out your design, this can be pretty tedious depending on your design.  sadly the sun went down while i was cutting so all my good lighting went out the window...ah working in the dark because i'm too lazy to turn the light on...  if you have a lot of fine lines in your design i'd recommend making them a little bit thicker than you think you need to.

plug in your iron and set to medium/high heat.

now, place the parchment paper inside your shirt directly underneath where you'll be placing your stencil.  line your stencil up on top of your shirt, shiny side down.  using a press/lift/press motion (not a sliding motion) iron your stencil to your shirt.  make sure you get a good seal otherwise your paint will leak.  if you have any separate pieces or free floating pieces iron them last.

now for the paint, i used a speedball screen printing paint, but you could probably get away with acrylic.  i mean any time i get acrylic paint on my clothes it never comes out...  i used more a dabbing motion rather than actual strokes mostly because i didn't want part of the stencil to catch on the brush.  now wait for the paint to dry...

...

double check you didn't miss any spots with the paint, and once it's dry you can peel off your stencil.

if you need to heat set your paint, just use the same piece of parchment paper, place it on top of your design and iron for 3-5 minutes.  keep the iron moving to avoid scorch marks.  flip your shirt inside out and repeat on the back of your design.

and your shirt is ready to wear!!

braided neckline tutorial

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i was actually inspired to make this tutorial when i saw someone on pinterest post a tutorial about a banana republic shirt-unfortunately they couldn't figure out how to make the neckline so the tutorial was basically sewing a braid to the neckline.  but i'm pretty sure this how BR actually made the neckline-isn't it funny that i'm actually using a BR shirt for this tutorial??

so here's the inspiration:

you'll need:
-liquid stitch-or some other fabric glue-this will help the hole from fraying or stretching excessively
-scissors
-old shirt (make sure it's pretty long because you'll be cutting strips from the bottom)

and the how:

1.  first start by putting a dot of liquid stitch down around the neckline about 1-2" apart.  then cut 3 strips from the bottom of your shirt about 1/2-1" thick.  it's okay if they're on the thin side because you'll be doubling them anyway.  stretch the strips out a little bit-it's basically the same process as all those t-shirt bracelet/headband/necklace/millions of other accessories tutorials.  once your glue has dried, cut a small hole in each dot.  you can make them pretty small because they'll stretch out later and you def don't want them to be too big.  i just made tiny little snips with the tips of scissors.
2.  then tie a knot in the end of your 't-shirt yarn'.  starting at one side, pull the yarn all the way through the first hole.
3.  then take the end and pull it back through the same hole but not completely-leave a small loop.
4.  thread the yarn up through the next hole and through the loop you made previously.
5.  again, don't pull the thread all the way through-leave a small loop.
6.  thread the yarn through the next hole and through the loop.  and keep going all around the neckline.
7.  when you come to the end, instead of leaving a loop, just pull the yarn all the way through and it should keep the last loop secure.

and that's it!!  i really like the look of doubling up the t-shirt yarn, unfortunately cutting that much off the bottom makes the shirt borderline too short for me to wear...then again i have unusually large breasts for an asian girl, combine that with the long asian torso and i usually need pretty long shirts.

if you have 2 shirts that are similar colors you could cut up one for the yarn and have a contrasting neckline-you could use the rest of the yarn for other t-shirt  yarn accessories.

recycle old mags

i got a magazine from ala moana a while back, and by a while back i mean before christmas.  and i haven't really found a good recycling center that accepts paper so i've kinda just been hanging on to it.  so today i decided to recycle it myself-into a little catch all/bowl/thingy.

i'm trying out the collage/montage method of tutorials again so...

1.  i cut all the magazine pages in half lengthwise
2.  fold them in half, and then into thirds
3.  start rolling the first strip-it's harder to get started but you want to pinch the corners to get the square shape
4.  when you add new strips be sure overlap the new one a little bit
5.  keep adding strips
6.  add strips until the base is about the size you want-mine is roughly palm sized
7.  now start on the sides-place the glue along the top edge of the existing strips
8.  place the new strip slightly higher than the existing strips-the higher you place it, the more vertical the walls will be.  the lower you place it, the more flared or V-shaped the walls will be
9.  keep adding strips

somehow i lost the photos i took of finishing the top edge??  basically, instead of placing the new strip higher, gradually lower the new strip until the top edge of the bowl is flat.

they're pretty useful little bowls, and i used less than half the magazine so i could make more...i think a pencil cup may be in order...?