Stencilling Tutorial

Here is a quick and simple tutorial for making your own stencils.

Posted by Cat Morley

About

Tom likes Placebo, so I made him a stencilled t-shirt for Christmas.

Share

You Will Need (9 things)

  • Paint Brush
  • Card
  • Computer
  • Glue
  • Stanley Knife
  • Fabric or Acrylic Paint
  • Paper
  • Printer
  • Image Editing Computer Program (Photoshop etc.)

Steps (7 steps, 30 minutes)

  1. 1

    The first step is to pick and image with relatively simple shapes that will look good as a stencil.

  2. 2

    Using photoshop, or a similar image editing program, adjust the levels until there is a strong of a contrast between the light and dark areas of the image.

  3. 3

    Remove the background and any complex areas of the image that you don't want.

  4. 4

    De-saturate the image so that it is black and white and then play with the levels until the image is mostly pure black and pure white.

  5. 5

    Print out the image on to a thick card.

  6. 6

    Cut out the black areas using a stanley knife. Use discretion if the black area will cut out a white area.

  7. 7

    Use acrylic, or fabric paint, to paint the stencil on to a flat piece of fabric.