Hello World!

This week I dabbled in stencilling and apparel craft- something new for me! With warm weather quickly approaching, I was inspired to up cycle  one of my husband’s old t-shirts into a workout tank. But let me be clear, working out is NOT something I desire to do for fun. Of course, this means that my tank had to be sassy and food related. Today I’ll share with you my process, and my Silhouette Studio file, to create my DIY Donut Stenciled Workout Tank!

• The first step was finding the perfect t-shirt for my project.

Lucky for me, my husband hoards white undershirts, so rest assured I have plenty of crafting ahead of me.

• I washed and dried the shirt, cut off the sleeves and collar, and stretched it over an extra white MDF shelf that we are aren’t currently using.

This way, I didn’t have to add cardboard to protect the back of the shirt, and any paint that bleeds through I can scrub off later! Also, I taped the shirt in place so if I needed to move my project, I could without ruining my setup!

• I designed my shirt in Silhouette Studio, and cut it with my trusty Silhouette Cameo.

I took a gamble on the Circut Stencil Material on sale at my local craft store, but I have to say- I LOVE IT. It cuts smoothly, weeds easily, and adheres nicely to the fabric. And it has a built in grid for leveling and placement!

• If you are looking for a less expensive option- freezer paper is the way to go!
  
• Next, I used Tulip Soft Brush On Fabric Paint, and lightly sponged over my stencil for 2-3 coats.

This is where I got nervous- never using the stencil material before, I was worried that there might be bleed. But everything came out PERFECTLY! Before peeling up the design I waited for about 20min and then hit it with a blast of my heat gun, because I’m impatient.

• (I didn’t actually have this rainbow of colors, so I cheated and mixed white and black fabric paint with regular acrylic paint for my desired colors!)

I kept the negative pieces of the stencil and covered the outside of the donut and the interior as I painted the donut frosting. Again, I mixed my own color and lightly sponged it on. I was worried about the shirt ending up being stiff where the donut is- so I kept the paint light here.

• Finally, it was time to add the sprinkles! I could have just painted lines- but I got fancy and tested my ridiculous rainbow assortment of embossing powder on fabric! And it worked!
  
• I dipped a flat edged paintbrush in Mod Podge, and dabbed the sprinkles on a few at a time.

Then, I took a pinch of glittery or colorful embossing powder and sprinkled it over the Mod Podge.

• I worked in small sections until the whole donut was covered in piles of powder. I carefully blew and swept away the excess.

Then, I took my heat embossing gun and worked in circles over the donut until I saw it melt into the fabric! This added fun dimensional sprinkles to my design!

And to think- all this for something I’m going to sweat in! 😉 But I’m super Pleased with how my shirt turned out, and I have already used the stencil material to create more sassy shirts!

CLICK HERE FOR THE SILHOUETTE STUDIO FILE!

If you would like to make your own donut workout shirt I have provided the Silhouette Studio file above! If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for this project email me or leave me a comment below!

Thanks for visiting! If you are inspired to create more projects like this, be sure to follow me on Pinterest, and check out my Silhouette and Papercraft and T-Shirt Crafts boards!