Craft: Scribble Initial T-Shirt (Tutorial)

My girls seem to love drawing more than ever right now. All kinds, all tools. Audrey spotted some "Stained by Sharpie" fabric markers at our local office supply store the other day and by the next day we had a set of Scribble Initial T-Shirts.

This was such a fun and easy project! It made me think I need to spend a lot more doing creative things with my girls, not just for them.  The really great thing about this particular project too was that my girls' uninhibited scribbles resulted in much better looking t-shirts than my more controlled pattern. So much for the worry about giving up control to them!

Wouldn't this be a great project for a birthday party? Or to make as gifts?

 I love seeing the different colors Audrey and Scarlett picked for their shirts. Each shirt is an original--just like the artists.

Have a little artist who wants to make a Scribble Initial T-Shirt? Click to view the full tutorial.

SCRIBBLE INITIAL T-SHIRT TUTORIAL

You'll need:

• a white cotton t-shirt (maybe a polyester blend would work too...)
• freezer paper
• Stained by Sharpie fabric markers

Start by printing out an initial to use as your template. I used the font "Rockwell Extra Bold" at 600pt.

Trace the initial onto your freezer paper. (Dull side up) You'll want plenty of white space around the letter to protect the shirt from the scribbles that go outside the lines.

Cut out the initial to form the stencil. I used scissors because I couldn't find my X-acto knife.

Iron the freezer paper stencil onto the t-shirt centering it as best you can--unless you want it otherwise, which could be cool too. (Not that letters such as "A" with a hole or shape floating in the middle will require you to cut out that little triangle or circle and position it on the shirt after adhering the outline of the letter.)

Now start doodling, or scribbling or making some other pattern with the markers. I tried some neon dashes.

My girls just went for it with generous scribbling. I think more is more on this project--pile on the scribbles! (It took a minute for them to get the idea that they were to draw on the exposed shirt, not the paper, but they got it.)

I think my dashes turned out kind of fun:

But the stiffer cotton of my girls' shirts combined with their more energetic scribbling worked even better!

 I especially liked Audrey's use of black with the other colors she picked.

When (or your artist) feel the project is finished, just peel off the freezer paper and it really is finished! I love the way the crisp edge of the letter encloses all the scribbles.

Pretty cool! Pretty quick! Let me know if you try it...