How to Make a Child's Class Tshirt

You can easily make a child's class t-shirt with a little creativity. Saving money may be important, especially if you're making t-shirts for an entire class. With the proper supplies, you can do as much or as little to make a class t-shirt. Choosing the proper paint that works well with the t-shirt fabric is very important to know that it will last through numerous washings. Tye-dye and iron on transfers are also options to use when making a child's class t-shirt.

Things You'll Need

• T-shirts
• Large pieces of cardboard
• Paint
• Clean sheets of paper
• Iron
• Cardstock
• Scissors

Instructions

1. Shop around for cheap shirts, especially if you're a teacher wanting to make shirts for your entire class. You may be surprised to find that buying directly from manufacturers can produce shirts that are as low as $2 each. Prepare to wait at least a week for the shirts to be mailed to you unless you're able to pick them up yourself.

2. Visit your local craft store and speak with somebody that has experience in fabric paints. Some may be flammable or have a lot of undesired fumes. If your children are helping you make their shirts, avoid these types of paints. If you want the paint to last a few years, express this to the craft salesman so you are recommended a better brand with a longer life expectancy. Buy the right type of paint depending on what you're doing. Sponge painting will need paint that isn't restricted with a roller ball in the bottle.

3. Make stencils by cutting out designs using cardstock paper. You can cut out letters or shapes that are hollow in the middle for where the paint will be applied on the t-shirt.

4. Place a large piece of cardboard inside the shirt to keep the paint from dying both sides.

5. Practice your design on a piece of paper next to you. Use this as a guide when you're painting words or a design on the t-shirt to help prevent any mistakes.

6. Squeeze blobs of paint on a paper plate. Leave enough room between colors so they don't mix together. This can be where you dip a sponge into the paint to transfer onto the shirt. If your children are going to finger paint or use sponges on their shirt, consider using one paper plate per color.

7. Paint your design on the t-shirt. If you're writing, your best option of paint is one with a roller ball inside to evenly distribute the paint onto the t-shirt.

8. Place the stencils you made on the shirt where you want the letter, shape, or word to go. Then, apply paint in the holes and carefully lift up the stencil.

9. Wait for the paint to completely dry on the shirts. The paint bottle will often give you a time that it takes for the paint to dry.

10. Place a clean sheet of paper on top of the shirt where you have painted and iron over the sheet of paper to set the paint.

Tips & Warnings

• Be as creative as possible, but don't rush the process. Having a design already thought out will help you remember what you want the final look to be.

• Avoid painting the stencil itself as much as possible as it may drip paint when you remove it.