Two Creative Ways to Print a Tee Shirt from Home

Being in the tee shirt business, I like to stay up to date on all the different ways people print their shirts. The more common ways of printing shirts are screen printing, laser printing or just plain old heat transfer. So how do you print a tee shirt from home if you don't have the equipment to do so? There's always freehand. But what if you're not that artistic and need some sort of a pattern to follow?
I stumbled across a craft ideas blog by Amy Allred. If you haven't been by her site yet, she has a ton of great ideas. Also, if you'd like to share an idea of yours, there's a place to submit your idea to be featured on the site. On with my point, she discovered two creative ways to print a tee shirt using simple household products and provides links to the actual tutorials.



The first method simply uses freezer paper. You can draw a pattern or trace one out on the freezer paper. Cut out your pattern using a craft knife or razor blade. Stick the freezer paper to the tee shirt. Make sure it's centered. If placing the design on the front of the shirt, good placement is two to three inches down from the color. That will ensure that the design is on the chest of the person wearing it. Once the design is firmly in place, using material paint, fill in the cutout areas. Allow it to dry and then peel the freezer paper off. To help the paint dry quicker, place it under a ceiling fan or near a heating/cooling vent. The last thing to do is heat set the design into the tee shirt by ironing it for two to three minues. It's a pretty simple and self explanatory way to design your own tee shirt.

The second method is using sandpaper. I know, it sounds weird. Purchase some fine grit sand paper, color a design on it with crayons, or have your kids color a design. Flip the sand paper over onto the tee shirt and iron the design on. The crayon transfers from the sand paper onto the material. Once you transfer the design, get a scrap piece of material and heat set the design permanently onto the material by ironing it for two to three minutes.

The freezer paper method seems a little time consuming, especially if you don't have a steady hand or much artistic abilities, but both seem to work!

And just in case your were wondering, heat setting the design simply means attaching the design to the material of the shirt. A design that has NOT been set into the shirt with fade much sooner than one that has been. Instead of ironing the shirt, I've heard of people simply throwing it into the dryer to get the same result. If you choose to try that method, just make sure your paint is dry!