projects

Do the kids need a fun summer project?

Are you looking for a family reunion project?

Then these colorful T-shirts are just what

you’re looking for!

Handmade Tie-Dye T-Shirts

Erin Bassett

MATERIALS: ScanNCut machine and accessories, White T-shirts, Tie-Dyes (I used

3 colors: fuchsia, yellow, and turquoise), Freezer Paper, Heat-applied

materials (I used flocked in royal, glitter in aqua, and hologram in

black), Gloves and Craft Mat

step 1. Scan in the designs on pages 9/10 and save to your ScanNCut machine.

HANDMADE TIE-DYE T-SHIRTS (CONTINUED)

step 2. Cut circle design out of freezer paper.

• To do that, first tap on “Patterns,” then “Saved Data,” and then the ScanNCut

machine icon. Find the “Cousins.fcm” cut-file, select it, and then click “OK.

• Next, click on the “Mat” icon. On this screen, you can delete the word “Layer”

and keep the “Circle” layer. Resize and move your circle if you need to and

then hit “OK.”

• Now, hit “Cut” and insert a mat loaded with a piece of freezer paper placed

on it into the machine.

• Adjust your blade to “1” and have it cut out your design.

(Note: Always do a test-cut to determine the correct settings. Mine may be different from yours, depending on blade and mat usage.)

• Once the design is cut, out go ahead and unload the mat. You can now use your

spatula to gently remove the freezer paper design from the mat. Be sure to take

your time so you don’t rip the design.

step 3. Iron freezer paper stencil onto T-shirt, waxy side down. Use a pressing cloth and

set your iron to cotton without steam.

HANDMADE TIE-DYE T-SHIRTS (CONTINUED)

step 5.

step 4. Take another large piece of freezer paper and fold it in half with the waxy side out

and place it inside your shirt to prevent the dye from seeping through the back

side of the stencil.

You’re now ready to break out the dye!

• Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for mixing up the dye as well as any

safety precautions.

• Dye your T-shirt! (You’ll see in the video that I try out a couple of different

techniques.) Play around and see what you like. Most tie-dye kits come with

enough dye to create numerous T-shirts.

– (Note: I did not wet my shirts prior to dying them since I didn’t want the dye to bleed too much.)

– Using a brush to spread the dye around gives fairly crisp edges to your

stenciled design.

– Squeezing the dye around the stencil and then pushing it around with a

brush allows the dye to bleed a little bit but still maintains the overall

design.

– Not using a freezer paper stencil and just squeezing dye in a circular

pattern creates an unpredictable circle.

HANDMADE TIE-DYE T-SHIRTS (CONTINUED)

Wait the manufacture’s instructed amount of time for the dye to work it’s magic

and then remove the freezer paper stencils, and then wash and dry the shirts per

the instructions.

• Note: I just let mine dry over night and then washed and dried them in the morning.

• Also, to show the difference between using a freezer paper stencil & not using

one, I created one extra shirt (pictured on the far right below) by just squeezing

the dye onto the shirt in a circular pattern and I did not use a freezer paper

stencil for it. You can seein the washed & dried shirts below how it bleeds much

more then the stenciled shirts.

step 6.

Choose which type and color of heat-applied material you want to use for the

lettering and determine what size you’re going to need it to be.

(I used Glitter Flake Aqua, Hologram Black, and Flock Royal.)

step 7.

HANDMADE TIE-DYE T-SHIRTS (CONTINUED)

Place your heat-applied material onto the mat, with the shiny side down and matte

side up. You want to cut through the material but not through the clear plastic

transfer sheet. This sheet is important since it will hold all of your design together

so that you can easily position it onto your T-shirt and iron it on.

step 8.

Cut the word design out of your heat-applied materials.

• Click on “patterns,” then “saved data,” then click on the ScanNCut machine icon

and then choose the “Cousins.fcm” cut-file and then click “ok”.

• Click on the “mat” icon. This time, select and delete the circle design.

• Resize if needed and then click the “mirror” icon (it’s the icon with the two

triangles on it).

• Move the word design where you want it and then click “ok”. (You can double

check that the writing has flipped to mirrored by clicking on the magnifying

glass if you’re nervous about it really being mirrored.) Keep clicking “ok” until

you’re at the cut screen.

step 9.

HANDMADE TIE-DYE T-SHIRTS (CONTINUED)

step 10. Change your machine settings and perform a test cut.

• You can change the machine settings by clicking on the “Wrench” icon, and by

scrolling to the second page. This is where you can adjust the cut speed and cut

pressure. When set correctly, perform a test cut and then (when ready) cut out

the design.

• Settings for heat-applied materials:

• Glitter – Blade: “4,” Pressure: “4,” Speed: “1”

• Hologram – Blade: “2,” Pressure: “2,” Speed: “1”

• Flocking – Blade: “4,” Pressure: “4,” Speed: “1”

• (Note: Always do a test cut to determine the correct settings. Mine may be different from yours, depending on blade and mat usage.)

step 11. Weed out the negative parts of the heat-applied material.

• If necessary, trim down your heat-applied material. This makes it easier

to weed out the design and you’ll be able to use the leftovers later.

• Be gentle! You don’t want to rip your material.

Make sure you weed out the centers of letters.

HANDMADE TIE-DYE T-SHIRTS (CONTINUED)

step 12. Place your heat-applied material onto your T-shirt and then iron it on.

• Turn iron to the hottest setting an do not use steam.

• Use a pressing cloth and keep the iron on it using pressure for 25-30 seconds.

• It’s helpful to turn your T-shirt inside out and iron on the “wrong” side too.

• After the design is cool completely, remove the clear plastic transfer sheet.

And here are my finished shirts!

This one was created with a freezer

paper stencil with the dye brushed on

and Flocked letters:

The one done with a freezer paper stencil with the dye squeezed on

and glitter letters:

HANDMADE TIE-DYE T-SHIRTS (CONTINUED)

HANDMADE TIE-DYE T-SHIRTS (CONTINUED)

HANDMADE TIE-DYE T-SHIRTS (CONTINUED)