Saturday, May 20, 2006

this week's craftiness

stencilled cat face shirt

Finally, I got the chance to try my hand at a freezer paper stencil; I'd been wanting to do it for a while since I definitely don't have time to mess with even the simplest screenprinting. This morning I made this swing shirt for Emily, and it came out really swell, we thought! The design is a little cat face from the credit sequence of Totoro. (See it bigger here!) It was pretty easy too -- I pencilled the design on the freezer paper (on the dull side), cut out the stencil with an x-acto, laid the pieces out on the shirt (shiny side down) and ironed them on. Then dabbed on some black fabric paint, peeled up the stencil pieces (the only really scary step), let the paint dry and heat-set it. I'm sure there's loads of tutorials but I basically followed the system I saw here (where I first saw this idea), especially Amy's brilliant step of adding freezer paper behind the stencil as well. I didn't let it dry overnight though -- I used the blow-dryer on it and heat set it so I could put everything back away as fast as possible. We're all excited to make more stencils!

Also this week, a new washcloth bib, made from an Astroboy washcloth someone gave us years ago (I'm thinking it was our friend Devon but I'm not sure). I think Emily loves it way more than we do!

astro-bib!

5 comments:

  1. hI,
    COOLEST BIB EVER!
    Your freezer paper stencil is adorable! i need to get some freezer paper and give it a whirl =)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love your craftiness.To be able to find time to do anything remotely creative with a young child in the house wins multiple kudos from me. Now, I want to get some freezer paper.

    ReplyDelete
  3. thanks, guys!! I absolutely recommend the freezer paper, it was so much easier than I expected. I confess I did buy "craft" freezer paper which is heavier than the grocery store stuff to be safe though. Also, I used Jacquard paints which you should be able to find at a Michaels -- they are really nice.
    Next, I want to try the using freezer paper to print on fabric thing, but I've got no craft in mind yet...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ooooooh! The Totoro cat face tee-shirt is THE BEST! There are no words to express how much we love that movie here in Casa de Lunatica! LOL! If i had a dollar for every time we've watched it, i would be able to buy shiny new aprons+ a spa day for every housewife in the blogworld! hahaha!
    And the Astroboy bib is fantastic too! You rock! :D

    ReplyDelete
  5. hey, I stumbled apon this looking for info on freezer paper stencils, and love your shirt... I just wanted to tell you it's even easier because 1) you can print your design right onto the freezer paper from your computer, and 2) the 'only scary bit' can be skipped.. lots of the sites said you can dry the paint/ink - even with a hairdryer - and THEN take the stencil off. So breath easy and have fun crafting.. good work!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...