Note: My jeans were bothering me within 6 weeks. I bought some butt-ugly maternity jeans. Why-oh-why is the tradition to sew a panel in them that goes all the way to the front of the crotch and then make it a completely different color? Most modern shirts don't hang all the way to the crotch and with the black panel in front, I am sure that it looks like I have wet my pants . Gggrrrrr... I do have some pants that are working for me, but for how long, I don't know. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
Now for the shirts. I've made 5 and have plans to make another from a men's shirt later.
Tips: Be generous with your freezer paper. I like to turn the shirt inside-out and iron that on as my backing. I feel like I get less bleeding and more control with that than a cardbord cutout.
To place my design, I put the shirt on and slobber on my finger enough to mark a darkened circle in the middle. This lasts long enough to get the freezer paper stencil ironed on.
Freezer paper is backed with a plastic. It is NOT wax. Don't confuse the two. The freezer paper peels off pretty easily.
Wash the shirt first or buy it at Goodwill.
Links to sites with directions are below my own project info. Click on an image to see it better.
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| This is my "swallowed a watermelon seed" shirt. It is cartoon-ish and silly. The shirt was 5$ and the paint was 2 including tax. 7$ for a customized and cute shirt is a steal! |
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| On the directions, it states to spray repeated coats to desired coverage. It does NOT say to let it dry between coats. The base colorant does bleed under very easily. Coverage is nice, but this is a pain in the butt project. The can clogged horribly and "spraying it upside down to clean the nozzle" didn't work--it DID spray/drip all over the place. I used a dime that was discolored and creepy as the center of the O. |
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| These were my "good paints". 1.) They dry harder than I had hoped. 2.) The bottles are easier to open and deal with, but they will sneakily roll over your art. Approx 1.75$ @ Michael's. 3.) The tube paints were easier to handle but opening them means you might squirt it out at your face, hair, etc. Once the safety foil is off, no problem. I am thinking my old bent sewing pins would be perfect for this. Unless you are painting huge or multiple items, this set should be more than enough. It was around 7$ @ Wal-Mart. |
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| I am not the best stencil-cutter-outer. I dug out an old off-brand X-acto to cut some after trying scissors and a normal razor blade (cover one edge with duct tape and the other edge is ready to go). I tried running the freezer paper through my printer, but it was as likely to jam as it was to take it. It was just easier to print out what I wanted, staple it on, and then tear it off while leaving the staples to plug the holes. |
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| Stickers are a great resist that work like magic. One portion of the S in "special" wouldn't come off. I used a marker to color over it and am hoping it will come off in the laundry. I used the blade to scrap off stray paint. It worked a little, but the fabric markers are probably more effective. We'll see. |
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| Dollar store sponge. I cut off the un-painted end and tossed it in the baggie with the rest to use later. |
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| 2nd attempt at this one. I wanted it for Thanksgiving day. I can't even feel him kicking yet, but we have seen on ultrasound that he is a HE. The can of glitter paint still sucks. I threw it away even though there is enough for another project. It was about 6$ @Michael's. |
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| Here are the three shirts waiting to have the elastic put in the sides. Not too bad, huh? |
This is such a popular method to customize your stuff that there are tutorials and videos all over. Most of the videos are long and boring, though. Don't bother unless there is a language barrier.
*** Modify a shirt one size up into a maternity top--EASY!
*** Another tutorial
***Note: Don't bother trying to hand sew this, just gather it if you don't have a sewing machine. For the elastic, definitely use a machine.
Freezer paper stencil tutorial
Another tutorial
Baby Shirt-Class of...onsie
Preggo-Halloween shirt
Baby monthly milestone onsies
Maternity calendar shirt
Krylon spray paint tutorial
