I’ve been working really hard, waking up early, and trying to eat less treats so I can get back to where I was, fitness wise, before I had baby #4. So far this year, I wake up at least 5 days a week and run on the treadmill anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour. Since I have been working out this often, I am now in need of more exercising shirts. I looked into just buying a racerback tank with some screen printing already painted on it, but it would cost $20+. So, I decided just to buy my own tank for a fraction of the cost and screen print my own image on it. Here is what I decided to do . . . Adventure Awaits

Step 1: Purchase Hoodie

I bought myself a $6 tank, here on Amazon. I then needed to decide what to paint onto it. I found this image, but felt like it needed a little something added to it. I added some snow covered mountains, pine trees, a trail and some teepees. Adventure Awaits

Note: The screen printing I did is the exact same procedure as my Disneyland Shirts.

 

Step 2: Template

Now create your template. You can use freezer paper or vinyl like I do. I measured the front of the shirt just as I did for my Disneyland Shirts and subtracted 6.5″ to get the image width of 9.5″. (From the arm seam to the other arm seam it was 16″. I then subtracted 6.5″, to get the length of 9.5″.)

Adventure Awaits SVG

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Download Zip file for the Adventure Awaits  SVG, PDF & PNG


Now place the template on the tank. If using freezer paper, iron it into place. If using vinyl, stick it on using this method with tacky spray. I also have a video here that shows how I do it using another shirt I made.

Step 3: Paint/Screen Print

I began by deciding what color I wanted to paint the image. I was initially just going to paint the whole image one color, but after giving it some thought I put together this sample image with my four options. After seeing them all together it was easy to decide what I wanted to do.Adventure Awaits

I then used my favorite screen printing paint and just painted it on with a paint brush. Do it thick enough that you can’t see the shirt color from behind, but don’t do it too thick that it will just crack and peel once you dry it in the dryer.

Allow to dry for about 12-24 hours.Adventure Awaits

 

Step 4: Heat Seal

When completely dry, peel off template. Place a thin piece of scrap fabric over the image and heat set the paint with a hot iron. (Just as I did here.)

Now it’s ready to be worn, washed, dried, just whatever and it should hold up better than a store bought screen printed shirt. Really. Enjoy!Adventure Awaits