Hello there lovely Lollipops readers! I'm Citlalli from
Sew Beastly, and I am delighted to be here at Krystina's lovely blog. I couldn't be more excited to share this little tutorial with you today. This diy is an easy and inexpensive way to revamp those boring kitchen towels and give them a personal touch.
The technique I am going to show you today is one that I thought of after being introduced to freezer paper. Freezer paper can be found at any grocery store, next to the aluminum foil, and it resembles parchment paper.
I was first introduced to freezer paper when I read it was great for pattern making since it has a glossy side that is coated with a very thin coat of plastic. This thin coating allows for you to iron on the freezer paper onto any fabric...the best part: it peels off without any fuss!!
The idea of making stencils out of this paper seemed like perfection since you are able to iron on the freezer paper and then peel it off without any problems. I originally used this technique to paint different patterns on canvas, and I was surprised at how amazingly good this seemed to work. I have been meaning to revamp my kitchen towels, and after much indecision this is what I came up with......
Well, I am a bit of the skull and crossbones fan, and I probably own too much skull and crossbones merchandise...{more than I am ready to admit} But I had to do this...the towels seem to compliment my apron, and besides...Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos are right around the corner!!!
And now, without further ado.....my tutorial. Enjoy!!
How to revamp your kitchen towels
Here are the materials you will need:
*Materials*
- Paintbrushes- You don't necessarily need a particular kind, but I do recommend one that is strong enough to endure the pressure from blotting paint on surfaces. I prefer synthetic bristles.
- Kitchen towels- These can be old ones, new ones.... your choice.
- Freezer paper- Found at the grocery store next to the aluminum foil. Make sure it is the plastic coated one.
- Exacto knife- This will be used to cut out your stencil, so be sure to have a sharp blade.
- Opaque fabric paint- Please note that fabric paint and fabric dye are totally different. I recommend opaque fabric paint because it is thicker in consistency, which means the paint won't be too watery and become a spot of paint instead of a painted design. I am using Jaquard brand paint since I haven't heard a bad thing about the brand, and it has worked great for me in the past. My design uses only black, but feel free to experiment with different colors. I would recommend getting the primary colors+black and white. That's as basic as you can get.
*Step One*
Choose your design and print it out on the freezer paper. The freezer paper might be too thin for your printer to grab, so I came up with this solution:
Attach the freezer paper to some cardstock so the paper feeds easier through the printer. Make sure the glossy side is facing the cardstock {this will prevent you from printing your design on the glossy side}.
Now remember that this is where you make this item your own. Pick out an awesome design you want and print it out on the freezer paper. Even better...hand-draw your design on the freezer paper, and make it even more special.
I picked out the words Hands and Dishes so I can have my towels labeled for use. Yes, I am a bit OCD when using towels for different duties.
The font I used is called Skullphabet, and can be found at
Dafont.com. I went ahead and printed two different words, and the reason for the printing layout is to have my freezer paper act as a guide when I get ready to iron it on my towels.
*Step Two*
Grab your exacto knife, and cut away!! This is the process of the tutorial where your patience might be tested.
The font I used is a bit intricate, and it might be too much for some people, but just use a font with straight lines and you will be able to use a ruler for the whole cutting process.
*Step Three*
Align your design with your towel, and iron it on.
Make sure you are ironing your design with the glossy side facing your towel. You will end up with a mess to clean if the glossy part touches your iron, and that will be no fun!!
*Step Four*
Now it's time to get your paintbrush, and paint. I find blotting the paint on is much more effective when working with a fabric like terry cloth.
Let the paint dry off.
*Step Five*
Now it is time to carefully peel off the freezer paper and admire your design.
Hoorah!! We did it!! Keep admiring the awesomeness you just accomplished....here's my final product
Oh! And remember the second word I printed out?
Well, there you have it ladies. That is my way of personalizing my towels. Mine are very simple, and might not be very colorful, but I didn't want to take the attention away from the font.
This is quite easy to do, but even easier to make it your own. And that is why this is such an great technique for personalizing anything that is made out of fabric.
So start brainstorming and get to experimenting with how you can put your mark on anything made out of fabric....it can become a bit addictive!!
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and really wish this has inspired you to give it a try. Thank you guys for reading along, and let me know how you made it your own...I would love to see all the great ideas out there.
Thank you for having me over Krystina!
