This Paper Chain Crafts post was originally published in May 2013
and updated as of February 2022.
I am a little embarrassed to even share this DIY Graphic T-Shirts tutorial because it seems like a total no-brainer, but MAN, did the final products turn out great! It literally took about 10 minutes per shirt, and the total cost ended up being under $5 per shirt. Can you believe?! Under $5 for a custom, adorable shirt. Here’s how to do it!
Supplies needed to make DIY Graphic T-Shirts
T-Shirt
Iron-on transfer paper
Printer
Iron
How to make DIY Graphic T-Shirts
As a preface to this project, I had a striped skirt (pictured at the end of this post) that had kinda weird colors that I couldn’t find a shirt for. So I decided I would figure out an easy and cheap way to make a shirt that would be perfect for my peculiar-colored skirt. So I looked up a floral pattern on the internets (LOVE floral and stripe pattern mixing.. like OMG), overlayed it on a heart shape in Photoshop, printed it on the transfer paper, ironed that sucker on, and ended up with something beyond my wildest dreams. You could totes skip the Photoshopping step and save yourself some time by finding exactly the shape/design you want on the internet… clip art, Google Images, they are your BFF here.
Step 1: Find or design an image on your computer (I used Photoshop)
Step 2: Print out the image on transfer paper
Step 3: Cut out the shape
Step 4: Iron on shape according to transfer paper instructions
Step 5: Peel backing off your shirt
They turned out SO good that I made one for all 10 sheets of transfer paper that I purchased. I will share a few of them here. But before I do, I really want to emphasize how easy this was. I am not exaggerating when I say this was the EASIEST project I have ever done. And think of all you could do: girl shirts, boy shirts, onesies, blankets, towels, pants, anything. I am sold.
Should I say again how easy this project was? EASY. Do it. Have a great Monday!
Happy making!
xo, Sam
Check out these other DIY shirt projects!
DIY Flamingo and Pom Pom T-Shirt
forest and lakes offer blank t shirts for free screen printing.
Special washing/drying instructions? This is awesome!
You could totes skip the Photoshopping step and save yourself some time by finding exactly the shape/design you want on the internet.Plancha de transfer
I was wondering what the best file format for the image should be?
Mine was just a jpg! Nothing fancy 🙂
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