Screen Printing with Freezer Paper Stencils - By Ooh Leela!

We have a very special guest tutorial by our dear friends, Isabela and Leela, over at Ooh Leela just in time for National Craft for your Local Shelters Day!  Ooh Leela is a mother and daughter team who make trendy dog clothes, as well as personalized pet fashions.  You can visit their cute little shop here.

"Freezer paper stenciling is super easy," says Leela (a 4.5 year old silky terrier) as she barks orders at her mother.  "You can use it to print shapes, text...pretty much anything."  

Speaking of text, Leela shows us how we can add an "ADOPT ME" message to the bandanas they will be donating to their local shelters.  

Here's what you'll need:

Freezer Paper (found theirs at Safeway)

Exacto knife

Pattern/sign (Get the template here)

Fabric Paint (Leela recommends Tulip)

Paintbrush

first cut one 8.5X11" piece of freezer paper so you can run it through your printer.  Print sign on the dull side of the freezer paper (ignore the shiny side for now).

Using an exacto knife, cut the image out very carefully.  Any cracks or extra cuts in the paper will allow paint to seep through.  Be sure to save the inside of the letters A,D,O and P.  You will need them too.

Iron the stencil (shiny side down) onto your fabric.

"This is where the magic happens," Barks Leela.  The shiny side becomes sticky with heat.  Make sure you iron around all the edges of your stencil, so as to create a good seal.  You don't want paint seeping through.  The trick here is to use low heat and make sure that the iron doesn't touch the shiny side, or else it will lose its sticky-ness.  

Leela says, "Believe me - been there, done that!"

Using a paintbrush, paint over the stencil.  Use painter's tape if you need to cover any additional areas.  It is better to use a light coat of paint.  Too much paint will cause the stencil to unstick and you will not get a crisp image.  If you end up using more than one coat of paint, make sure you let it dry in between coats.

Let paint dry.  Or if you are impatient like Leela, get the "big gun" out: use your blow dryer to speed up the process.  Oh yeah!!!

When the paint is dry, peel off the freezer paper (like a band-aid).  Make sure you heat set your ink, according to the manufacturer's instructions (this step is important - otherwise the ink will fade when you wash the bandana).

Voila!  The screen printing part of the process is done.  You can turn this into just about anything, but Ooh Leela is turning it into a bandana specifically for the shelter animals!

Here's Leela modeling her finished bandana.  What a cutie-pa-tutie!

Thank you Ooh Leela for such a cute tute!

Now head on over to Ooh Leela's facebook page and be sure to share the love.  

XOXOXOXO,

Erika and Sebastian