How to Spray Paint a Design on a T-shirt

Have you ever wanted to make a t-shirt with a custom graphic but didn't want to deal with the hassle and expense of customized screen printing? If so you may want to consider spray painting your own shirt instead. You still get a custom design that won't bleed or run when you wash it, plus you'll save a lot of money by doing it yourself. Here are some tips on how to spray paint a design on a t-shirt.

Supplies:

- A T-shirt (light colors work best)
- Card stock or heavy paper
- X-acto knife
- Spray paint in the color or colors you want
- Scrap pieces of cardboard or paper for masking

The basic concept behind what you are going to be doing is creating a stencil and then using that to spray paint your design onto the shirt. Here are the steps you need to follow:

1. First, shrink your shirt. If the fabric shrinks after you spray paint it your design can bunch and buckle. Because of that your first step should be to wash and dry the shirt so that it is pre-shrunken before you start painting it. By shrinking it first you stand a better chance of having your finished design come out looking great.

2. Choose your design. Typically simple designs work better with this technique than more complex designs. When choosing your design keep in mind that you are going to need to cut it out with an X-acto knife so you probably want to avoid intricate patterns. Try to choose a well-defined image or text that will be easy to cut out. When you have chosen your image print it out onto card stock.

3. Cut out your design using your X-acto knife. Concentrate on making clean cuts and be sure you only cut out the areas where you want the paint to go. If you are doing a design with multiple colors you will need to create a separate stencil for each color that you plan to use.

4. Prepare your shirt. Place a piece of sturdy cardboard inside the tshirt. The cardboard will help to prevent the paint from seeping through the shirt and getting on the opposite side. It will also help the shirt to lay flat so your design will go on evenly. Position your stencil on the shirt wherever you want your design to go. Lay additional pieces of paper or cardboard on all sides of the stencil making sure to cover the rest of the shirt and the surrounding area. This will help to protect both the shirt and the work area from over spray from the spray paint.

5. Carefully spray paint the shirt. Hold the nozzle at least 8 inches away from the shirt. Use a light touch and try not to oversaturate the shirt. If you get it too wet it will leak under the edges of your stencil and your design will not come out crisp and clean. Allow each color to dry before moving on to stencils for additional colors.

6. When you are done with all the colors allow the shirt to dry completely. The first time you wash it you should wash it by itself. After that you should be able to wash it like you would any other tshirt.

This is a fun, easy and inexpensive way to create your own customized t-shirts. Play around with it and see what designs you can come up with.