"Vintage" Fake-screenprint T-shirt Design

How to make a t-shirt design that easily looks "retro" and "screenprinted" while being super-easy and much cheaper! (The photos are taken with flash and make the colors bolder than they appear in daylight; to the eye they are more worn and washed-out.)

Note: I highly recommend reading the whole instructable before trying it, rather than "reading along." There are tips sort of sprinkled throughout because of my writing style, but it will be beneficial if you get them all ahead of time, causing less trouble for you! =)

Step 1 Materials

For this project, you will need:

--a t-shirt
--craft/fabric paint
--paintbrushes (most any style will work, though bushier is better at the moment)
--cardboard
--scrap cardboard/plastic
--newspaper or wax paper
--thin cardboard or paper or a cuttable material
--scissors or an exacto knife
--masking or painter's tape (optional)

Comments

[ewebbdesigns]

Also instead of taping down or holding a stencil... Go to your local grocery store, buy some freezer paper. Use the freezer paper as your stencil, so cut out your pic that you want to print out of the freezer paper. This paper i coated with a waxy layer, so write on the other side. Then line it up on your tee shirt and iron it down. This gives a really close contact with the shirt, and it leaves no residue when you tear it away after you have placed the paint on! If you have a lot of spaces in your stencil, you can either stencil separetly the designs or use a sturdy tape, ducked tape, on the same side you are drawing on. This will allow you to place it correctly on the tee shirt and keep it from loosing its right dimentions in transfering from cutting area to shirt.

[sarahmilan]

When I stencil t-shirts I often use freezer paper. I draw the stencil on the papery side and put it waxy side down on the cloth. Then I iron it in place. Once the paint dries it is fairly easy to get off and can be reused 3-4 times depending on how careful you are with the stencil.

[Karel Jansens]

Have you tried plastic or cellophane stencils and spray-on glue for better durability and finish of the stencils? Some brands of spray-on contact glue are removable and reusable when the glue is sprayed on one surface only.

[rattyrain]

I'm actually thinking of using transparency sheets and clamping them down with spring clamps.

[Mercat]

No, I've never really had the need; the stencils I've made aren't too complicated and I just kind of do it spur-of-the-moment with clean cardboard/paper/plastic out of the recycling bin. I may try it if I do something more complicated, though; thanks for the tip!

[dyeitblack]

Great stuff, love the retro faded look and the fact that you make it from recyled bits and pieces when the mood strikes is cool in my view!

[Mercat]

Thanks! I end up using a lot of recyclables/trash in my crafts because it's cheap, sometimes reusable, and perfectly functional. =) Plus you don't care as much if you spill paint or something.

[justjimAZ]

Spray adhesive works well here to hold the stencil down. I have had good experience with that. It does not damage the shirt.

[kenyaaa]

i think you should try using more than one layer of paint. like put it on let it dry and then addd a second coat.

[Mercat]

just be careful because you don't want the paint to be thick, as it is more likely to crack and is more uncomfortable to wear.

[kenyaaa]

thats true too.

[hdirnberger]

This looks really easy and fun. My friends and i are trying to find a cheap way to make t shirts and we have decided to use your instructable. Thanks a lot!

[Mercat]

Awesome! The whole idea was to be cheap, simple, and effective... I'm glad it can be put to use. =)

[Arios Schiffer]

Fabulous instructable! I shall certainly try this out. I love the vintage look, dry brushing is such a good idea.

[HOMEsplice]

How do you do multicoloured screen printing?

[Mercat]

Well, for this instructable, I just used different colored paints in the stencil(s). For actual screenprinting you need a different screen for every color of ink you have. Does that help? =)

[HOMEsplice]

Yes, thank you!

[old_bass_masta]

heh, i want to do this as a logo, cuz i love the IRON MAIDEN text

[Mercat]

cool, have fun with it. =)

[GorillazMiko]

Nice work, I would probably put iBles or something..great job!

[Mercat]

Thanks! Have fun with it if you do try it. =)

[TangMu]

I reccomend laminating the paper you want to cut the stencil out of. It makes a nice clean line and holds spray adhesive so you can unpeel and position on the next piece.

[Mercat]

I've never tried lamination with stencils, but I find it rather slippery. =/ I also tend to do my stencils spur-of-the-moment and I don't have a laminating machine, but thanks for the tip!

[flintj]

It is all well and good, and you definitely know what you're doing. But there's a line between "retro & vintage" and "haphazard," and I think you crossed it. Especially with the Batman and "Property of" shirts, though the QX one looks very good.

[Mercat]

I'm not really sure I understand what you're saying. They look better in person (the flash photos really don't do them justice at all). The whole point is to make it look worn, at least that my point, and is what I've seen of retro/vintagey-stuff that's made right now.

I don't mean that I was going for a retro design; that's something else entirely. These designs were all based on the intended use of the shirt; gifts for friends, or group t-shirts. And the "QX" shirt is the function e^{x, a joke from my calculus class.}

[Mercat]

Er, that should be e^x, etc.