How to Stencil an Old Shirt {and Make it New Again}

This is a love story. A love story between me and one of my most beloved pieces of clothing. Have you ever been devastated by the loss of one of your favorite clothing items? Have you ever lost one of your "go-tos" to a horrid oil stain? Oh the agony! (Don't worry, this story has a happy ending.)

Recently, I got to listen to Megan, aka Brassy Apple, teach about repurposing clothing items (my Instagram pic). Megan is awesome and her lesson was inspirational. 

Here's a sneak peek at how this project turned out! Do you love?

Meet my shirt. I love her. She is so cozy. I super love that she can be ridiculously comfortable and stylish at the same time. Give me comfort or give me death!

Do you see the horrific stain that makes made me want to cry? She was ruined! But I just couldn't let go... like a crappy boyfriend that you just can't shake.

This is how I feel about my shirt...

You guys, Jerry and I have issues.

I told you it's a love story right? Well, now it's more like a love triangle because now Americana paints are involved. Scandal!

Americana Multi-Surface Satins are available for purchase at Michaels, A.C. Moore, Hobby Lobby, and other fine craft retailers. 

I have to admit, if it weren't for Megan I wouldn't have thought of it! Thanks Meg!

Here's how it all went down... I decided to mix two grays, Zinc and Steel Gray. I decided on tone-on-tone because I thought my mistakes would be less noticeable... and that's just my style, subtle. Plus gray is my fave of all faves. (More about my love for tone-on-tone stenciling)

Americana has such cute stencils and any of these would have looked great on my shirt (thanks Americana for hooking me up with this cuteness!). But in the end I decided on the one in the top right. I love me some geometric!

It was super easy to do.

1. Mix your paint with fabric medium (follow directions on the bottle).

2. Place the stencil in the desired location.

3. Hold the stencil in place with one hand and dab with the foam brush with a light amount of paint. I liked the idea of it looking worn and imperfect (perfection is just too hard :))

4. Realign the stencil and repeat.

Can you tell I'm stoked on my new/old shirt?

If you have a shirt that fits perfectly and is the most comfy thing on Earth... well, why would you give that up? Why not just paint it?

What's the worst that could happen? You mess it up? Guess what, that already happened.

Take a chance, it might end up looking super rad and maybe, just maybe, it be your new/old favorite! Thanks to the tone-on-tone stenciling I seriously can't even tell where the stain is now.

I hope I inspired you, like Megan inspired me, to think a little harder about what you can do to revitalize some items you might be holding on to. I am SO happy I did!