SUPPLIES & TOOLS:
- Newspaper (or something else to cover your messy printing area)
- Paper towels
- Fabric paint
- Mixing container (a clean yogurt container with lid will suffice)
- Spatula or spoon
- Foam - 1/2" thick
- X-Acto® knife
- Cutting mat or piece of cardboard
- Ruler
- Acrylic stamp block
- Adhesive (spray adhesive works wonderfully, but a Craft Bond glue stick would work as well)
- Foam brush (preferably circle-shaped)
- T-shirt
- Freezer paper
- Painter's tape
DIRECTIONS:
- First, prepare your work area and designate a clean area to set t-shirts to dry. Fabric paint has a way of sneaking onto unexpected areas by way of your fingers, or the side of the stamp block, etc. Cover your table with newspaper, and keep a trash can or a plastic grocery bag for trash nearby and discard newspaper once it has any paint on it - making sure the newspaper is continually clean will enable you to see the moment a new splotch of wet paint is there. Also, keep your roll of paper towels at hand to wipe up paint when it gets on your hands, the side of your brush, etc.
- Mix your paints. Of course, you can also use the paint straight out of the tube. In either case, squirt paint into the lidded mixing container so that later you'll have a place to pick up the paint with your foam brush and blot the excess paint.
- Create your stamp blocks. Cut the foam into the shape of your image and glue to the center of your acrylic block. The clear acrylic stamp block really makes placing your stamp exactly where you want it very easy. While you can use a lot of other things as a stamp base for your foam (in fact, you could use just the foam itself) the clear acrylic stamp block is so helpful for getting your placement just right and for keeping your fingers far away from smudging the paint off the stamp.
- Prepare your t-shirt for printing. Tape freezer paper onto your printing surface (sometimes the ink from newspaper can rub off, so avoid setting the t-shirt on the newspaper.) Place a large sheet of freezer paper on the inside of the t-shirt. Fabric paint will absolutely bleed through the t-shirt onto the other side, but the freezer paper will block it from doing so. Smooth out the surface of the t-shirt and tape the sides down.
- Begin to print. Take your foam brush and dab paint onto it. The underside of the mixing container lid is convenient for dabbing off excess paint and making sure the little ridges of paint are evenly distributed across the surface of the paintbrush. Once the paint is on the brush in a fairly even coat, dab onto your stamp until even, then turn and place onto your t-shirt. Once the stamp is placed, take care not to let it scoot or slide, but keep one hand centered on the back of the stamp and use the other to place even and firm pressure all along the back of the stamp; then pick it up. Sometimes the stamp might fall slightly askew from what you had intended, but leave it wherever it falls first, try to stop yourself from correcting it, because when the t-shirt is complete you are not very likely to notice a very slight angling of one stamp; but you will notice a place where the stamp is double-printed.
- If you're creating an all-over print, make yourself a little paper rectangle to keep your prints centered and evenly spaced. For example, if you decide you want your prints to be spaced 4" apart from each other, cut out a 4" high rectangle, and however wide you make it (it doesn't much matter) mark the center point at the top and bottom. Then, every time you print, center your paper rectangle with the previous print, then center your stamp to the paper rectangle. Make a little paper guide anytime you need to keep your spacing consistent; it's so easy and so helpful.
Craft Hack Tips and Tricks:
- Consider planning your design so that a new image can be created from a stamp you've already made. A large triangle stamp can be turned into a small tree made of little triangles.
- A stamp you've already made can also be modified by blocking a portion of it with freezer paper.