Freezer Paper Stenciling
Imagine my dismay when I was
wearing a a brand new pair of pants and I splattered them
with oil the FIRST time I EVER wore them. I was heartbroken,
but what is a girl to do? Oil splattered pants just aren't my
style.
FREEZER PAPER to the rescue! Yes, you heard me right, freezer
paper. Who knew it was so handy?!? It's cheap too. So now,
instead of looking like grease splattered pants, they have
this cute little design on them:
After that, I
used Freezer Paper Stenciling to jazz up a pair of
used-to-be-plain WalMart sweat pants for the little guy too!
Just look how much happier he is to have a tiger on those
pants!
Ready to start stenciling? I thought so. Here we
go...
Supplies:
Plain Jane fabric- clothes, pillows, handbag... what ever!
OR a fabric item you've stained and want to give
new life to
freezer paper
craft paint
iron
Directions:
Find the design you
want to stencil. Most reasonable people would start with
letters or numbers, a simple silhouette image (it's also
great for a sports theme- find a sports ball image or
use a player's number). ME? I had to do a damask. Go
figure.
TIP: google "_____
silhouette" to find clip art images you can print off
and trace. Perhaps a floral silhouette, vine silhouette,
a particular animal you like, etc. When you find what
you want, just print it off to the size you want and
trace it. No need to agonize over drawing it from
scratch. Here's a tiger silhouette I used on Landon's
pants. Afterwards he asked why it wasn't a lion. Go
figure.)
Trace the design onto
your freezer paper. Holding both papers up to a window
is the simplest way. Be sure that you draw the design on
the non-slick side of the freezer paper. Then, using an
exacto knife, cut it out.
Save little pieces like
this, that you may want to put back inside the image.
For example, a circle inside the letter "o" or a little
swish on the flower and leaf.
With the shiny side of
the freezer paper down on your fabric, iron the stencil
into place. It gently adheres to your fabric. Press all
the edges with your finger as well, double checking that
you got a good seal and nothing feels loose.
If you saved any little
pieces, put them in place now. See how the flower and
leaf are blank inside the first picture, and have the
little swoosh ironed in place in the second picture.
TIP: remember as you
add in these tiny pieces to be sure the shiny side is
always facing down or it will just stick to your iron!
Now gently paint inside
your stencil. Depending on your fabric and colors, it
may take several coats to achieve the look you want.
When doing multiple coats, be especially careful not to
disturb the edges of your stencil.
TIP: try to paint
inwards... from the stencil towards your fabric, rather
than from the fabric to the stencil. This will help you
avoid letting paint seep under the edges of the stencil.
Carefully remove your
stencil from the fabric.
After you're SURE your
paint is completely dry, place another piece of fabric
over your design, and iron it. This is an important step
to heat seal the paint into your fabric. If you skip it,
it will start looking yucky after a couple washes and we
don't want that now do we?
Here's what mine looked
like immediately after painting and ironing. Not bad for
a pair of once-stained pants.
The paint will look a
little more natural after a wash... mainly just not so
shockingly bold and shiny. Here's mine:
TIP: I am just guessing
here, but I think it's probably best to wash clothes on
cold, delicate that have freezer paper stenciling on
them. Or, at least cold. I would think that the warm
water would fade it out much faster. I can't remember if
these pants got their first wash in warm or cold, but I
actually wanted this pair to fade a tad so the
less-shiny version is just right for me.
Last, if you decided to
do this project yourself, please send me a photo of it
with your name and what state you're from! I've recently
decided to start featuring my readers' finished
results.
Don't forget to check
out What's New on my site! And sign up
for email updates HERE!!
Want to leave comments?
Go HERE! :)
