DIY - print your own typographic t-shirt!

Hey there,

Seems like it's been a while! I figured since I haven't posted something in so long it would be nice if I could share my project that I am working on right now for my shop - hand-printed T-shirts!

They are incredibly easy, but they take time and require a bit of effort. 

Print your own t-shirts like this!

So I had several designs for my crop t-shirts, which I was trying to experiment with typography. This DIY guide only applies to text by the way - If you want an image with lots of colours I can't give you that! Contact your local craft store or ask around to get your t-shirts printed instead :)

Export the text to an image (.png)

Now here are two ways to cut the text - using an x-acto knife and using a laser printer. Since my school provides the second option for art students, this was what I used. 

First you load the image file onto 2D design. Then do the proper settings (vectorize bitmap, explode, line colour/fill for cutting) and print out with the printer. The laser will cut the outline of the text and this means the letters will fall out leaving empty spaces. 

Before printing - note that I used two A4 sheets because it didn't fit one :)

However, if you don't have access to the laser printer like I do, simply print out the text onto A4 paper that is adequately thick for easier manipulation and less messy cutting. Then use the x-acto knife to cut out your outlines.

After you have the outline - go ahead and put your shirt onto a flat surface. Preferably a board or table or something. 

Then use a few sheets of A3 paper to layer under the side you're printing on - this step is very important, because if you don't paint will leak through and dirty the other side of your shirt!

Align your painted/extracted outline text onto the shirt, wherever you want it to be. Tape it down to secure it on the shirt so it won't move around.

Don't forget the little insides of the text too! If you didn't save them like I forgot to... make some out of sticky paper and stick them on there. Otherwise double-sided tape goes well too!

After that you can start painting on your t-shirt! You can use fabric paint or here, I used acrylic paint because it was more available to me.

Keep "printing" it and fill in the blanks! I used two colours like my original design.

After you finished - go ahead and peel the paper off. Gently though - you don't want the paint to smudge all over if it is not dry yet!

The thrill of removing all of the stickers is absolutely exhilarating.

Voila! There you go. Easy, right? That took me at least 30-40 minutes for each shirt though. So yes, it takes effort, but at the end I kinda like how it is blotchy and looks like you've done it by hand :) Which is the point of it.

Summary of what you need:

- A t-shirt of your own
- X-acto knife or laser cutter (w/2D Design software)
- A4 paper (slightly thicker than normal paper)
- Sticker paper (optional)
- Tape
- A3 hardback paper
- Paintbrush
- Fabric or acrylic paint

Weeee! Now you have your own shirts! :) Isn't it neat?

x Chi