How-to’s

Patterns are a big source of inspiration for our stencil designs. One of the best things about our Product of the Year 11 x 11 Repeat Pattern Stencils is their versatility. They are great for stenciling walls but can also be used for a lot of other things, including making awesome t-shirts! Choose a stencil, grab some paint, and make a one of a kind t-shirt.

Things you’ll need to make this shirt:  Stencil1 Staggered Triangle Stencil, Tulip Soft Fabric Paint, a t-shirt, a cardboard insert, brushes, painter’s tape (optional).

Step 1: We stenciled this shirt twice because we wanted a symmetrical look. Start by placing the stencil on either the left or right side of the shirt. You can use painter’s tape to secure the edges of the stencil. This will also help you avoid painting over the edges. Since you will only be stenciling the shirt twice, you can simply align the rectangles to continue the pattern. However, you can use the registration marks by putting a pice of tape underneath the corners of the stencil and filling in the triangles with a pencil.

Step 2: Start stenciling by painting with a dry-brush technique. This means using very little paint and adding several layers. We wanted a distressed look so we didn’t add a lot of layers of paint.

Step 3: Once you are done stenciling this side, lift the stencil and allow the paint to dry to touch. Shift the stencil to the other side and align it with the registration marks or the triangles on the side you already stenciled. Repeat step 2.

Step 3: Once you are done, allow the paint to fully dry and heat seal it by ironing the shirt (you can use a piece of cloth in between the shirt and your iron to protect your iron). Snap a picture of it and share it with us @Stencil1

We cannot stop thinking about spring and warmer weather at the Stencil1 studio. So, we made a spring-inspired pillow to remind us that warmer days are here! We chose one of our Product of the Year stencils that can be used as is but can also be more flexible and allow you to improvise a little bit. Grab a pillow case, follow the steps below and snap a picture of what you made. Share your photos with us @Stencil1

This is what you’ll need to make this pillow-case:  Stencil1 Bouquet Stencil, Tulip Soft Paint (we used matte finish and three different tones of blue), stencil brushes, painter’s tape, a cardboard insert, and a pillowcase.

Step 1:  Choose your paint. We decided to use different blues but you can use one color or 20 different colors. Get creative! Think about where you’ll use the pillow and the colors in that room. This could be a great accent pillow on your sofa or a subtle pattern on your bed!

Step 2:  Insert a piece of cardboard in the pillowcase so that the paint doesn’t bleed to the other side of the pillow. The fun part of this stencil is that you can secure the entire stencil and paint in all the flowers at once or you can paint one flower (or a couple) at a time and move the stencil around each time! Line up your stencil to the place you’d like to stencil. We decided to move the stencil around so we only used tape if the stencil overlapped a flower we did not want to paint over.

Start stenciling by dabbing the brush up and down or by painting using a circular motion. Remember that stenciling is a dry brush technique. This means using very little paint and adding more layers of paint for a saturated look. Once you are done stenciling, slowly lift off the stencil and allow the paint to dry a bit before moving on to the next flower.

Step 3: Once the paint has dried to touch, move on to your next flower! We used painter’s tape to cover up parts of the pillow we did not want to stencil.

Step 4: Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you have covered the pillow with flowers. We had fun overlapping our flowers from time to time.

Step 5: Once you are done stenciling, allow all of the paint to dry for about 15 – 20 minutes. Heat-seal the paint by ironing the pillowcase. You can use a piece of cloth between the stenciled pillowcase and the iron. Put a pillow inside the case and snap of picture of it to share with us!

All of our stencils are designed to repeat or tile to form a larger pattern that is similar to the look of wallpaper. Unlike wallpaper, you have endless design possibilities with stencils.  The small triangular cutouts function as registration marks to help you accurately align the stencil for repeating over a large surface.

Follow these Stencil1_RepeatPattern_Instructions or watch our Ulive how-to video to learn how to use our stencils and make a great accent wall in your home!

Shop Product of the Year stencils and tools here!

You can download step by step instructions on how to create a wallpaper repeat pattern on your walls here (pdf file):

Stencil1_RepeatPattern_Instructions

or watch our videos in the how-to section of our site.

Get ready for Valentine’s Day by buying our Valentine’s Day stencils, perfect for making one of a kind gift and cards!