Father's day gift idea - T-shirt stencil

I got my Cricut Explore early this year and I am really enjoying it!

After playing around with cardstock papers (Heart made "whale" valentines for his friends), I decided to do a t-shirt for hubby.

This is a great way to customize t-shirts! My husband is a soccer fan. So I found this witty message on the Internet that I tried to incorporate in my project.

So here is how I did it:

• I used the light-grip mat (light blue color) and a 12" x 12" freezer paper. The matte side (less shiny side) of the paper must be facing down. 

• Another important thing to remember is to invert your letters (as shown in the picture) before printing. Click the "Mirror image for iron-on" button on the final screen.

• I prepared the t-shirt by pre-washing and ironing it.

• I inserted a rectangular piece of cardboard (I used flattened cereal box) inside the t-shirt to prevent bleeding

• I carefully cut out each line leaving enough white space between the lines. I placed them on the t-shirt with the shiny side down and ironed it well (medium heat without steam).

• I used the Martha Stewart Satin Acrylic Paint in "Wedding Cake" and Delta Textile medium and mixed them in 2:1 ratio. However, the consistency of the medium was soooo watery that I am not sure about the ratio I ended up using.

(I only used the white acrylic paint)

• I used the Martha Stewart craft sponge with the smallest diameter for the best control  (shown in the above picture).

• I just saturated the letters with as much paint as possible and did two coats.

• I also cut a soccer ball image with Cricut and stenciled it on.

• This was my first t-shirt project. So I made a mistake of leaving the paper on the t-shirt for a long time (this resulted in paint bleeding beyond the letter boundary). Well, you live and learn! But Hubby didn't seem to mind and wanted to wear it right away :). So please remember to remove the freezer paper as soon as you are finished with one line.

Before heat-setting!!

• I then let the paint dry for 24 hours. After it was completely dry, I ironed it with medium heat (no steam) to set the paint.

Hubby has worn this t-shirt many times so far and the paint has remained bright even after several washes!! 

Cricut made cutting the letters so easy! I have done three more t-shirts after this project. I will post about them pretty soon!