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Make Your Own Shirt:
A Perfect gift for Dad!
 Make your own shirt just for dad and finally have a stress-free holiday this year!
If your dad is anything like mine, he can be pretty hard to buy for. After learning how to stencil using freezer paper, I was pretty excited about making gifts for the men in my life! As a result, I made some great t-shirts for my dad, father-in-law and husband this Father's Day. But you don't have to reserve the t-shirt making for Father's Day (although it's better than giving a tie), these t-shirts make a great homemade gifts for men for any holiday.
I made all three shirts in one evening and spent about $21 in total. That's $7 per gift!
A Few Notes Before You Start
 When making your own shirt, fabric paint works best for this project, but if you're in a pinch or want to save a few bucks, you can use acrylic paint that is mixed with fabric medium. Follow the instructions on the bottle.
If you choose to go the acrylic paint route, I found that black paint gives the best results.
When choosing an image, try to choose one that is simple...without too many details. I found that if I had to cut out a lot of lines close together on an image, the paint often bled together and I just ended up with a large blob of colour on the shirt.
Freezer paper can be found at the grocery store. It consists of one side of paper and one side of plastic. When ironed, the plastic lightly bonds to fabric and allows you to easily stencil an image onto your shirt.
The Materials
You'll Need:
 -foam craft brush
-small paint brush
-freezer paper
-craft knife
-cutting board
-piece of cardstock
-pen
-printer
-iron and ironing board
-fabric paint or acrylic paint mixed with a fabric medium
-t-shirt
Make Your Own Shirt for Dad: Part Prep
1. First, pre-wash your shirt.
2. Find an image on the internet or from your photo album that you want to put on your dad's shirt. Line art (pictures with only lines, similar to those in a colouring book) works best for this kind of project. But, if you have the skills, you could also edit a photo in Photoshop by playing around with the threshold levels until you have a look that you like.
3. If needed, adjust the image's size so that it is as big or small as you'd like.
4. If you have an ink jet printer, print off the image onto the paper side of the freezer paper. You will have to cut the freezer paper to size so that it will fit in your printer.
If you have a laser printer, I recommend that you print the image off on regular paper first and then trace it onto your freezer paper. Freezer paper has one side that is coated with plastic and this will melt onto the rollers in your printer. It happened to me. Twice.
Make Your Own Shirt: Part Do
1. Using a craft knife carefully cut out the design of your image. It is helpful to do this on a cutting board.
2. Next, lay your stencil plastic-side-down onto your t-shirt. Make sure that the image is exactly where you want it to be. Using an iron, iron on the stencil to the shirt.
3. Place a piece of card stock inside the shirt directly underneath your stencil. This is done to ensure that no paint seeps though to the back of your shirt.
4. Using your paint, gently stipple it onto the shirt. You want to dab - not smear the paint around. If you smear, the paint will seep under the stencil and make the edges of your image blurry.
5. If necessary, put another coat of paint on the shirt and allow it to dry for about 5 minutes before you carefully peel off your stencil.
6. If necessary, use a small paint brush and leftover paint to make a few touch ups.
7. Allow the shirt to dry over night. If you used acrylic paint, set the paint by pressing the image with a hot iron.
8. To ensure Dad's shirt looks new for a long time, wash the shirt inside out in cold water and hang to dry.
Wasn't it so much fun learning how to make your own shirts? Here is a neat idea: I painted the sides of each of my kids' hands and then pressed them into the shirt so that the hand imprints made the shape of a heart. Now grandpa - or 'partner' as they call him - has a shirt that also acts as a time capsule, freezing the size of my children's hands in time.
WARNING: Freezer paper stenciling is very addictive. Now that you know how to make your own shirts, you'll soon want to stencil everything in your closet. Hmmm. Maybe giving a tie wasn't such a bad idea - as long as I can stencil it first!
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