Craft Review: Family Fun Magazine "Most Fun T-Shirt To Make - Reverse Stencil"

Most of the time I just skip crafts involving t-shirts. But this one from the June/July 2011 issue of Family Fun Magazine caught my eye. So here's what we learned about making a Reverse Stencil T-Shirt.

You need a plain pre-washed t-shirt, contact paper, fabric paint,
and a water spray bottle.

Make a template

Your template needs to be big. Mine filled up as much as possible of a standard sheet of paper. I looked for the perfect free templates online, but I ended up modifying what I found and drawing my own custom template. Another idea is to have your child draw something for his/her shirt.

Trace your template onto the contact paper and cut it out.

Put a bit of cardboard inside the shirt so the paint doesn't bleed
to the back of the shirt. because it will, trust me.
I just cut up a box for my insert.

Peel the backing from the contact paper and adhere it to the shirt
wherever you want your design to be. Make extra sure the contact paper is
securely attached, especially around all edges, with all bubbles pressed out.

In your spray bottle, mix three parts fabric paint with two parts warm water and shake. Make sure you have plenty of newspaper to protect your work area, because this will spatter. We took ours outside for the next step.

Spray the paint all around the stencil.

Yes, my children are in their PJs.

According to Family Fun, a light spray is less likely to seep under the stencil. Unfortunately, both of my spray bottles shot out in a hard stream, and I couldn't get them to adjust to a nice easy spray. So I definitely had seepage. 

And because my spray bottles were not cooperating with us,
we used a paint brush to spread out pools of paint that were
collecting on the shirt.

I think we used a bit too much paint. If your spray bottle
can spray lightly, you can get a nice even coverage
without all the pooling, and perhaps with less paint.

So how did they turn out? This one did okay. Yes, it had seepage
but not so much that it ruined the design.

This one did not turn out at all. The owl lost his eyes and beak,
as well as the space between his face and outside lines.
Tree branches were lost too. This one was not okay.

So we got some shimmery pink fabric paint and painted him in,
and now it's okay.

In following the directions on the the paint, we must wait 72 hours before we can wash the shirts, and I'm hoping the washing will relax them a bit because they're both pretty stiff right now. Again, I'm thinking we put on too much paint. All in all, it was a fun activity for my girls, and I know they will enjoy wearing their new shirts. They enjoyed deciding what we would put on their shirts. I made the templates and got the shirts ready for them to spray. And they enjoyed the spraying. I just wish my spray bottles had worked better than they did. Maybe next time.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord. Jeremiah 29:11-14