I have really developed a love for at-home custom screen printing shirts, bags, and hats for my family.
All my kids now know that when their birthday rolls around, they will be getting a painted shirt from mom. I do it so often now that I thought I should put a tutorial together so others may see how they can do it too.
Note: Here are a few screen printed items I have made. . . Adventure Awaits, Brother Bear, Mama Moose, Harley Davidson Dealer, Police K-9 Unit, Future Police Officer, Disney Backpacks, Disney Best Day Ever, Disneyland Subway Art, Disney Family Vacation, League of Their Own, Disney Hats, Halloween Trick-or-Treat Bags, and the list goes on. . .
Supplies:
- Item To Be Painted: Shirt, Hat, Backpack, etc.
- Acrylic Paint & Fabric Medium (Buy on Amazon – Fabric Medium
- -or- Screen Printing Paint (Buy on Amazon – Screen Print Paint)
- Sponge brush (Buy on Amazon – Sponge Brushes 9pk
- Stencil of some kind
- Tacky Spray (Buy on Amazon – Krylon Easy Tack
- Cardboard Box
*Note: Notice that these steps are for painting a shirt, but can be used for painting any item: such as hats, backpacks, scarves, etc.
Step 1 : Prep
Begin by wrapping a cardboard piece in parchment/wax paper and placing in the shirt so that paint doesn’t seep through to the other side. Now I generally measure the shirt across and subtract about 6-9″ to determine what size to make the template.
Step 2: Stencil Placement
Now place the template on the shirt. If using freezer paper, iron it into place (like I did here). If using vinyl, stick it on using this method with tacky spray. I also have a video below that shows how I do it. Now use a Mini Pizza Roller
Step 3: Painting
Take sponge brush with fabric paint or acrylic paint {mix the fabric medium with your acrylic paint to make the paint flexible to help prevent cracking when washed} and dab paint within stencil/vinyl.
Step 4: Finishing
Once the paint is completely dry {I wait 12-24 hours, just to make sure} remove the vinyl stencil and cardboard from inside the shirt. Then place a piece of scrap fabric over the painted areas and heat set the paint with a hot iron.
Ta-da! You are done.
