Crafternoon #3: D.I.Y Printed Eye Shirt

Lately print clothing has become very trendy, but the prices for shirts like these can come in prices way above an average person's budget. I guess you could say I was inspired by the eye print shirt here on the right. (kinda..not really)

I'm going to show you guys how I made this printed eye shirt which cost close to  nothing if you have these supplies already lying in your house.

Here are the Materials you will be using:

1. Plastic fruit container, or any plastic packaging
2.  Xacto knife, or scissors( but using scissors will be a lot more difficult)
3. Clear tape
4. Acrylic paint
5. Sponge
6. Plain t-shirt
7. T-shirt or extra cloth you will probably ever use again 
8. An Iron
9. A Sharpie
10. Ruler

STEP 1 : Use your Xacto/crafting knife to cut out a square from the bottom of your disposable plastic container.

The container I used belonged to a bunch of blueberries. Now that I think about it, this project is great for reusing plastic.

STEP 2 : Use a sharpie to draw a simple eye. Then use an Xacto knife to carefully cut out the shape of the eye. ***Be sure to leave some space on a part of the eye so that you don't end up cutting out a plain oval.

STEP 3 : Make sure you test your stencil with a sharpie or marker before using it on your cloth with paint. As you can see, I just filled in the stencil with a sharpie on notebook paper.

I made two eye stencils, one with negative space(right) and the other with positive space(left). The Positive space is better for adding dark paint onto a light color t-shirt while the negative space works best with light paint on a dark colored t-shirt. I might make a black t-shirt with white eyes, so look out in the future.

STEP 4 : Use a ruler and sharpie to measure the spacing you want between each eye print. Make a small dot for where each eye will be placed.

STEP 5 : Place the stencil so that the center of the eye is on the dot you marked with your sharpie. Then tape down the edges using clear tape, this will minimize moving while you apply the paint.

STEP 6 : Use a small painting sponge, or a small cut up piece of clean sponge to dab the paint on the stencil.

You can be very generous, or sparing, it's all up to you.

STEP 7 : Continue to add onto your shirt by placing the stencil onto the next dot repeating step 6. Keep painting on more and more eyes until all your dots have grown into cute pupils.

This looks like a mascara nightmare, but don't worry, in the end it will all pay off.

STEP 8 : This step is optional. If you made any noticeable paint marks that have smudged in random places, try using white paint to cover it up. WARNING, it will not look that great, but I was desperate since my blotches were very obvious, so be careful when you are painting your stencils in that you don't have any stray paint marks.

FINALLY! At last your painting job is complete. BUT, don’t think you’re done. Keep scrolling for the last few steps. Don't worry it's not as bad as you think.

STEP 9 : Iron the shirt so that the paint can “fuse” with the fabric, use that 

old t-shirt you never liked to act as a protective barrier.

STEP 10 : AT LAST THE FINAL STEP!!!

Try on your new custom designed shirt and style whichever way you want. If you want to be adventurous, you can cut off the sleeves and make a tank or muscle tee.

I paired mine with some high waist shorts and just tucked the shirt in. Also I wore this out in public on Tuesday and did not get any questionable stares so....success!

Hope you guys enjoyed this tutorial.

Stay happy and crafty!

~Angela