Silhouette Dish Towels

I loved this project and am so excited to share it with you!!  As you know, sometimes we have an idea, uncertain how it will turn out, and go in with great expectations.  I'll be the first to admit that some of my ideas end up in the garbage can and I don't even share them with you. This was not one of them.

I wasn't sure how this would go, but am happy to say that the results are better than I had hoped.

I love kitchen towels and wanted to add a towel or two with a little more personality.   Many ideas have been going through my mind now that I have started this project, so you may be seeing more on this in the future.  Here is what I did.

Supplies

• plain dish towel
• fabric paint
• freezer paper *
• exacto
• self healing mat OR magazine
• sponge applicator
• small paint brush (for touch-ups)
• iron

Instructions 

1.  The images that I used are from various sources.  The dog silhouette was taken from a photo of the co-editor, the bird silhouette I found online, and the letter t, well I typed it.  Find your image and play with it on the computer until you have the actual size that you will need.  I played with the towels to determine exactly where I wanted my image and the size it needed to be.

2.  Next, take a piece of freezer paper* and place it over you computer screen to trace the image.

3.  Take an exacto and cut out the image leaving behind a stencil of your image.  I envy you crafters who have a self-healing mat.  I use a magazine instead.  Simply place the freezer paper on top of the magazine to protect your surface.  When you do this step, make sure that you keep any little pieces that are important.  For example the bird towel has the extra pieces in between the bird's legs the branch.

4.  OK, this is why I love freezer paper.  Once you have your stencil, place it shiny side down on the towel and iron it.  The heat from the iron will help the stencil to adhere to the fabric and prevent bleeding.

5. Before you begin this step, be sure to place the item that you are painting on top of something absorbent.  I used a newspaper.  Dampen the sponge applicator with water (be sure to remove the excess moisture or the paint will bleed).  Dip applicator into paint and blot off on a paper towel to remove excess paint.  With the applicator, apply paint to the towel.

6.  Once paint is dry, remove stencil from towel.  I am impatient, so I didn't wait.  Everything turned out OK.

7.  Allow towel to dry for one hour.

* Freezer paper can be found in the food storage aisle of grocery stores along with aluminum foil, wax paper, etc.