The freezer paper stencil is one of my favorite fabric painting methods. It’s easy, it’s cheap and it yields great results. If you need to paint a design onto your fabric and you don’t trust your freehand and want to ensure smooth and even coats of paint then this method is great. The downsides to this method are that stencils will only get one to possibly two uses before they wear out. If you need something really repetitive you can use the same general process that is described below, but use contact paper instead. Since it is made of plastic it will last you a little longer.

Supplies:

  • Design to trace
  • Freezer Paper (available at any grocery store)
  • Pencil / Pen to trace the design onto the paper
  • Xacto Blade / cutting utensil
  • Iron
  • Fabric Paints
  • Paint brush

Step 1:

Create the design you are going to stencil. I usually like to draw my design in illustrator (or other vector based program) because it is easy to scale and easy to draw directly off of reference images. Depending on the design you could also freehand or use a grid method. Make sure your design is dark so it will be easy to see through the freezer paper and trace in the next step.

Step 2:

Trace your design directly onto the paper side of your freezer paper. Freezer paper has a wax side which will be very smooth and shiny. You don’t want to draw on that side.

Step 3:

 Trace your design directly onto the paper side of your freezer paper. Freezer paper has a wax side which will be very smooth and shiny. You don’t want to draw on that side.

Step 4:

 Iron your design onto your fabric. Remember that waxy side we talked about earlier? Thats the magic of freezer paper. The wax will melt slightly and stick to the fabric, but in most cases when you peel the paper up after use it leaves no residue behind. Always ALWAYS do a small test on your final fabric before using this method though. I personally haven’t run into a fabric it didn’t work on yet.

Step 5:

Paint your design. It’s best to use thin even coats and do a few than to try to glob it all on in one go. It’s also good to work from the edges toward the center to avoid any bleed under the stencil. If you have questions about what paints and brushes are best for fabric painting you can read Fabric Painting Part One, where I go in depth about various supplies.

Step 6:

Let your paint dry completely and then remove your stencil! If you are really careful and didn’t get too much paint on it you can usually reuse the stencil at least once more. Generally though this method is best for one time uses.

Examples:

I’ve used this method on a lot of costumes, below are just a few examples.