Today on I Love to Create it’s Stencil 101. Thought stencils only came in the shape of ivy vines and came in pastel colors? Clearly you have not flipped through a copy of Stencil 101 and seen the amazing range of colors and paints from Tulip!
I first met Mr. Ed Roth at the summer CHA show in Chicago, Illinois last year when he stopped by the Duncan booth to say hello. Here we all are Me, Ed, Kathy Cano Murillo, Jenny Hart and Hope Perkins thick as thieves. I already heard about his company Stencil 1 and his book Stencil 101, but had yet to get my hot little hands on a copy. Now that I have I don’t ever want to let it go or set it down.
Stencil 101 is in the same vein as say Jenny Hart’s Craft Pad. It’s not a craft book with lots of example pictures and step by step instructions it is a book literally of stencils and a brief overview on how best to use them. The stencils can be used with any number of different paints and placed on several different textures. Want a stencil of a boom box on your wall or a poodle on your favorite skirt? Stencil 101 can make it happen.
Being fond of the wearable arts myself I decided to try my hand at a few of the projects in Stencil 101. Sit back, relax and enjoy my crafty adventure. Hopefully you will be inspired to pick up a copy of the book and you can win the fabric paint at the end of this post just by leaving a comment!
The Buck Blouse
SUPPLIES
Light colored cotton shirt
Tulip Cool Color Spray for Fabric (Caribbean Blue)
Buck Stencil from Stencil 101
Aleene’s Tack-It Over & Over Glue
Piece of cardboard
I got the idea for this technique from the Average Jane Crafter blog. She had made a T-shirt using Tulip Cool Color Spray for Fabric so I thought I would give it a try since the author does suggest an airbrushing technique and a spray bottle of paint was the closest thing I had. Following the books instructions I chose a light colored cotton top and a darker color paint. I first applied a very light coat of Aleene’s Tack-It Over & Over Glue to the back of my stencil and then placed it on my blouse. The theory was that this glue would stick the stencil in place, but at the same time allow me to peel it up when I was finished.
Once the stencil was firmly in place and I had pieces of cardboard between the front and back of the shirt to prevent bleeding I sprayed my teal fabric paint lightly over the shirt. I used several coats.
My report is that the glue worked really great holding the stencil down. The instructions in Stencil 101 mention that this is a dry brush technique and the Tulip Cool Color Spray for Fabric is pretty wet, but it didn’t seem to be an incompatibility. The end result turned out rad and my brand new buck blouse was born.
Headphones Hottie Skirt
SUPPLIES
Cotton Skirt
Red Embroidery Thread
Embroidery Needle
Aleene’s Liquid Fusible Web
Cotton Fabric
Tulip Soft Fabric Paint (Sunshine Yellow)
Headphone Stencil from Stencil 101
Painters Tape
I love the look of contrasting fabric appliqués against pattered clothing and my Headphone Hottie skirt is the perfect example. First I chose the skirt and the fabric to stencil on.
Using painters tape I stuck my stencil down to my appliqué fabric. Using Tulip Soft Fabric Paint and a sponge brush I applied two coats of paint allowing drying time in-between. Once the paint had dried completely I cut out my appliqué and placed on my skirt using Aleene’s Liquid Fusible Web to hold in place. Once the fusible web had dried and been ironed into place I embroidered the edge for extra contrast using red floss.
One of my favorite things about this book is the hip designs. I love the concept of stencils, but they are never my style or something I would dream of using on my clothing or in my home. Ed Roth has come up with a winning combination of stencils with designs ranging from urban-cool to naturally organic with his awesome book Stencil 101 from Chronicle Books. The stencils easily tear out from perforated pages and there is a pocket on the back cover of the book to hold your used stencils. One word of warning that I learned the hard way, even though the stencils feel like plastic, they are not. In other words don’t pop them in your sink for a quick rinse off or you will ruin them.
Now for the part you have been waiting for – the contest! Leave me a comment and let me know what you think about Stencil 101 and stenciling in general. Do you have a copy of the book – what do you think? What is your favorite method of stenciling? You have one week to give me the stencil gossip and then I will pick one lucky blogger to win a set of Tulip Cool Color Spray for Fabric in 3 fun colors!
Tune in tomorrow to see how handy Stencil 101 comes in at a Onesie making party. Every baby needs outfits with pictures of apes, muscle cars and sumo wrestlers!
***This is a sponsored post by I Love to Create – I was compensated & given free supplies. Mama has gotta pay the bills somehow and really who in their right mind would say no to free craft supplies***
OK I am with you that the idea of stencils always seems cool but I can never find ones that I would actually use. These seem actually usable!
Thanks for the review.
OK, I have to comment on the photo of the woman stenciling on the wall because it cracks me up. Who dresses like that to PAINT? I wear old paint splattered pj’s and my hair is in a pony tail, not loose curls framing my face. LOL!
I can hardly wait for the onsie addition. I’ve bought a couple stencils for the shower which next week. I’d love to see more details on how to use them
what a great project idea!! I love the stencils!
Oh, and Im in Austin too! 🙂 I just found you over at cut out + keep, and I cant wait to go through your blog and your site! I love your style!!
AfterGirl that has always been my dilema with stencils. Plus I have never been any good at making my own so this book is a dream.
Jen the girls loved the book at the baby shower and you will see all the fun pictures tommorrow. I really suggest the book for the party.
Nikki so glad you found me. Funny it was via a website in London 🙂
I just ran across this book a couple of weeks ago on Amazon. I was looking at Lotta Jansdotter’s books and it come up in that handy little “You might like this” section. I added it to the plethora of books on my wishlist. The post is great btw. I was not familiar with either one of those paints. It all seems so easy. I can’t wait to give it a try.
I’ve been terrified of stenciling ever since the great stencil incident of 1999 when I was stenciling for the first time on my walls – just moved it. I took a class (about 15 minutes long) on blending and taping and whatnot.. what I DIDN’T bother to check was the squareness of my walls and Voila! All of that work and it looked hideous! I didn’t even realize until I finished the top border and
Knit Purl Girl I have to say I am afraid of the same things and the idea of stenciling on a wall scares me a bit. I have two friends who have done it recently with awesome effects, but I just know mine would be totally crooked. Seems like you have to get all mathy and make graphs for it to work right. I’ll stick with clothes 🙂
Oh – I meant to ask: Do you have to heat-set the fabric paint?
The instructions didn’t say too, but the paint I am giving away has to sit for 72 hours before you wash it. I ran both through the dryer for good measure before I washed them (inside out). So you don’t have to, but a good heat set never hurt any craft project.
I am LOVIN’ the headphone skirt/stencil! As a radio DJ I’m always looking for headphone-inspired things. It’s kind of an obsession. Oo! and I love that they’re all on patterned fabric.
Krystle the book not only has headphones but turntables and cassette tapes too!
These all look awesome. Kyle and I made our christmas cards from a stencil, silk screen style(he took kathleen Mctee’s guerilla print class for his bday last fall) I have been thinking about getting him this book. I think it looks super fun and all the cool things I could do with it too!!! love those doubled edged gifts, our anniversery is coming up
Great post Jen!I’d love to see what you could do with the stencils and the Stencil 1 sprays on paper..say baby announcements?? 🙂
Great review..as always! I look foward to tommorrow’s onesies!! 🙂
Wow! Thanks for the post, look at your projects! I like! Love the stencil over patterned fabric!
Stencil1 offers fabric sprays that not only spray on fabric but also paper and other surfaces, have to send you some! Thanks for the post and everyone’s comments are so nice! Stencil away!
I love this book! I have only attempted stenciling once and it looked like ass. I would love to try again.
Thanks for the tip on the Aleen’s glue.
xo
Does the book include instructions or tips on making your own stencils, too?
I’ve been in love with the idea of using stencils in crafting since stenciled graffiti of Travis Bickle from “Taxi Driver” started appearing in my old neighborhood.
I have always admired stenciling but it has always seemed like something that I would never be able to do. This book and your tutorial makes it look like anyone can do it! I am really excited about this book and finding another fun crafty thing to do!
I love that there are lots of stellar motifes for the boys!
I absolutely love the buck blouse!
I didn’t know that the spray fabric paint worked so well.
Anyway, I wanted to let you know I used a quote in my blog about website log ins, I hope you don’t mind. You have the best information on your blog that no book could match..okay, maybe the ‘Working girls guide to Handemade Jewelry’ 🙂
These are so cute! I am for sure going to order them!
Belle you should totally get it for Kyle as someone else mentioned there are lots of boy stencils in here too. I mean afterall the author is a dude.
Elaine you are who told me about Stencil 1 for the first time and brought be a button to wear at CHA!
Ed your fabric sprays sound awesome, I can hardly wait for book number 2!
Blue Mama the glue worked really well to hold
I literally just got my copy of Stencil 101 in the mail today! I ordered it off Amazon when I saw your post about the baby onesie party. I had to have that chimp stencil!! I can’t wait to bust out the fabric paint and go to it!
Yeah, it’s official. I’m in love! Thanks for the heads up!
I love the headphones.
I was a stencil freak a few years back, but the flowery stuff did get old rather quickly. If I never see another stenciled ivy again I’d be just fine and dandy.
Will definitely check out the book.
Haven’t seen the book yet – will look for it. I’ve got an “in” at my local library and they buy everything I request 🙂 So, if I don’t win it…
I’m wondering if any of the stencils can be combined with the reverse applique technique taught in Alabama Stitch. I love that book, but am not that thrilled with the stencil options.
YAY! Stencils that are cool. My aunt had blue and yellow geese stenciled across the top of her kitchen. Aw, the memories.
I think these stencils that you have used are really cool. I think I will order the book. The paints are incredible and I would love to win them.
Cindy in Kansas City
I’ve never stenciled before and I LOVE the idea of doing so on walls. My walls are kinda bare and I have some orange paint left over from the time I painted the inside of our front door. Thanks for the idea!
this looks like a lot of fun…i'd love to win the paints & give it a try! jessica
I don’t do a lot of stencilling, but I have used brass stencils- they seem really durable. I’ve also used gel medium and oil sticks with stencils, both on paper and fabric. The gel medium gives great texture on non-wearables! Looking forward to hearing about more stencill-y goodness and new ideas!-Jenny at http://www.CraftTestDummies.com
I saw this book at the Book store the other day and flipped through and thought these are cool stencils. My son loves to stencil. He downloads them off a web site prints them out cuts them out the sprays his skate board grip tape, other people skateboards, T-shirts and we have even used them for silk screening.
Loads of fun..
I’ve been coveting this book since before Christmas! I really need it in my collection. I love stenciling, and I was excited to see all the stencils in this book are RAD!
This book looks awesome! Love the variety of stencils…not the norm! And that’s a good thing. I’ve tried stenciling just one time with decent results on a window shade. I can see these designs used on window shades and curtains in a teens room! Thanks for such a great book to check out.
I don’t stencil yet. But I would love to try it. I have checked out the new stencil books that are out now. I like what I see.
I have no stenciling methods, because I have never tried it, but I have been DYING to. This looks like a great way to start! I love all the designs he has in the book! I will have to look for it at my local bookstore!
Thanks for posting this!
I like to stencil and usually use the freezer paper method, which works out well if you just want to stencil one thing on one item.
I love the idea of reusable stencils and stencling items on a wall.
I like to stencil and usually use the freezer paper method, which works out well if you just want to stencil one thing on one item.
I love the idea of reusable stencils and stencling items on a wall.