Monday, May 12, 2014

Wearable Flower Power ~ Silhouette Challenge

I'm breaking away from my normal paper crafts this month...and putting my Silhouette cutter to use on a different medium ~ t-shirts!

It is most definitely spring here the southwest, well into it, in fact...and that means that its time to break out the tees! I don't know about you, but I get a little bored with wearing the same ones over and over, so I decided to do a little makeover on the plain tees that I'm used to wearing.

I purchased new ones for these projects - but you could just as easily treat some much-loved tees that are already in your closet to the same designs!

First, I cut some freezer paper with the design that I wanted to use, this one from the Silhouette store, and ironed it on to my t-shirt. There are some great instructions for cutting and using the freezer paper here. I then used a spray paint for fabric to spray over the stencils going over the fabric much heavier toward the bottom of the shirt and fading to almost no color at the top...I was going for the ombre look.

This is what it looked like right after I finished spraying, before I removed the freezer paper stencils...



And this is after the stencils were removed...perfect!



I have to wait one more day for it to dry according to the instructions on the paint...but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out!

Then, I cut some htv (heat transfer vinyl) in the same design and ironed them on. This is a pretty straitforward tutorial on using heat transfer vinyl. My hint...make sure you purchase Easyweed htv...do you see all those little parts that needed weeded from my design? With the easyweed, I didn't even use a hook tool, I simply bent the backing/transfer side and the edge popped right up for me to grab hold and pull!

Here's the finished shirt with that method...



Meh...I could have placed the designs a bit better, but pretty good!

Third, I cut some contact paper with the same design, but this time I placed the designs on the shirt...



And then sprayed the shirt with diluted bleach from a spray bottle. The process was fine...the result...



Not really what I was going for! Oh well...it's still a good shirt...and I'll experiment with another color of fabric paint a little later to see if I can get a design on the shirt.

Bonus: I liked the floral design so much, that I used it on a mug that I etched for my mil as her Mother's Day gift! On her last visit she caught sight of a mug that I had experimented with glass etching on...simply putting my first initial on one side. She hinted strongly that it would make a good gift for her, as we share the same initial. :) I decided that I could do one better, and make her her own mug. 


Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the online world! For more flower inspiration and projects, be sure to visit the links below!

Meredith

My Silhouette Challenge buddies and I are all sharing projects on our blogs today, so peruse the projects below for a wealth of Silhouette inspiration!

  Vellum Flowers Silhouette Challenge - Shape Challenge - Flowers Paper Wedding Roses Tea Party Invites Dr. Seuss Graduation Gift Hand Made Floral Cards for Mom Say it With Flowers - May Silhouette Challenge (Paper Craft) Confetti Flower Card Silhouette Challenge! May flowers mixed media art Wearable Flower Power ~ Silhouette Challenge Silhouette Sketch Pen Tutorial - Watercolor Flowers Dingbat Font Flower Garden Flag Stenciled Burlap Canvas Distressed White Washed Terra Cotta Pot with Book Page Flowers Creating Floral Fabric Teacups Using Your Silhouette Machine + Free Cut File! DIY Paper Flowers: 3D Paper Tulips DIY: Fabric Flower Hairpins Silhouette Sketch Pens Peony Prints Paper Purse Gift Card Holder 3d Watercolor Paper Peony Flowers DIY Home Decor Paper Blossom Branches Floral Note Card Set French Box Upcycle with Graphic Challenge ‪#‎silhouettechallenge‬ DIY Summer Activity Mason Jar Decor with Upcycled Pallet Wood Metal Etching flower kraft boxes Vellum Flower Arrangement Thank-You Cards {Made on Silhouette}

1. Create & Babble // 2. Kate's Paper Creations // 3. Please Excuse My Craftermath // 4. Tried & True // 5. unOriginal Mom // 6. Mama Sonshine // 7. Adventures in All Things Food & Family // 8. The Experimental Home // 9. The Outlandish Momma // 10. Whats Next Ma // 11. Dream a Little Bigger // 12. Silhouette School // 13. Creative Ramblings // 14. Our Rosey Life // 15. Bringing Creativity 2 Life // 16. Practically Functional // 17. Minted Strawberry // 18. Two Purple Couches // 19. Simply Kelly Designs // 20. Grey Luster Girl // 21. TitiCrafty // 22. My Mom Made That // 23. Architecture of a Mom // 24. My Paper Craze // 25. The Sensory Emporium // 26. Ginger Snap Crafts // 27. Mabey She Made It // 28. McCall Manor //