Handmade Tie-Dye T-Shirts

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1 projects Handmade Tie-Dye T-Shirts Erin Bassett 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! MATERIALS: ScanNCut machine and accessories, USB Flash Drive, Cousin.fcm cut file, 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. Download the ScanNCut Cousins.fcm file onto your USB drive and insert it into your ScanNCut.

2 step 2. Cut circle design out of freezer paper. To do that, first tap on Patterns, then Saved Data, and then the USB 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.

3 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. step 5. 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.

4 step 6. 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 7. 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.)

5 step 8. 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 9. Cut the word design out of your heat-applied materials. Plug your USB drive into your ScanNCut, click on patterns, then saved data, then click on the USB 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.

6 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.

7 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 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:

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