DIY Guy Gift: Stag Head Shirt

With only a few days left, I have one more trick up my sleeve for those handmade Christmas gifts - and this one's for the guys in your life: the Stag Head Shirt. It takes a big box bargain t-shirt and kicks it up a notch to look like you paid a LOT more money for a cool graphic tee with vintage-feel. It takes a little hands on time, but mostly the project just takes a little waiting - nothing major, though. You could easily knock out a dozen of these in an afternoon.

For this project, you will need: 

• A t-Shirt (mine was 90% cotton, 10% poly blend)
• Freezer Paper
• Fabric Paint
• Scissors
• Stencil Brush
• Kosher Salt
• Silhouette Machine
• A Stock Pot (not shown)
• Water (not shown)
• (Plus you must launder shirt before gifting)

First, cut a piece of freezer paper to fit your Silhouette cutting mat. Then, I used the deer head image to make my stencil (I simply used the portion of it I needed, not the whole pattern).

After the pattern was cut, I used the negative part of the cut out to use it as a stencil by ironing the freezer paper shiny side down. It adheres to the fabric, but will pull off easily.

Dab, dab, dab, and make sure that the whole stencil is covered. Know that the freezer paper does not prevent bleeding, so stencil cautiously. Once finished, let dry completely and heat set according to the directions on the paint (mine was iron for 30 seconds.)

When it's set, boil the shirt in salt water - 1/2 cup of salt to 1 quart of water. Bring the water to a boil, add in the salt, stir to dissolve, add in the shirt, then boil for 30 minutes. Stir it around to prevent any scorching. After 30 minutes, rinse with cold water, then machine wash/dry as normal.

And that's how to make a cheap ordinary t-shirt look like an expensive, awesome one. Instead of scratchy and stiff, the shirt will be worn in to vintage perfection. 

____________________

Enjoy this post? 

Get all my posts delivered to your inbox!