I am a procrastinator. I don't get things done ahead of time and I work best under pressure. I used to consider this a major character flaw, but as I age I've decided it just part of who I am. And for the most part it has no ill effect, except when it comes to holidays and being a craft blogger. I made these super cute 4th of July shirts at the very last minute and I wanted to share them with you, complete with free printables. Sadly, I know most of you will have to pin this one for next year, but just in case you're a last minute crafter like me, you've still got plenty of time to whip up a few festive tees before they light the first fireworks!
I created these cute (or as Jude would say, cool) patriotic tees with freezer paper stencils and fabric paint. My awesome Cricut Explore (a gift from the company) makes creating freezer paper stencils almost too easy. If you've got a Circut I've included a free vector file download, but you could also simply print and cut your own. Since fiddling with all those cuts can be a bit annoying, I've also included free iron transfer images.
How To Make Fourth of July Shirts
You'll need
- Plain white tee
- Freezer paper
- Fabric paint (blue and red)
- Free printable stencils: Merica Stencil, Free and Brave Stencil, Merica Cricut, Free and Brave Cricut
- Craft knife or Cricut
- Iron
Or, skip the fabric paint and use
- Iron Transfer Paper
- Free printable: Merica Iron On, Free and Brave Iron On
Steps
- Download your template and either print it directly onto the matte side of your freezer paper (ink jet printers only) or print it on regular paper and trace the design onto the matte side of freezer paper. Note, feel free to scale your design to fit your shirt. Use an exacto knife to cut out your design (Note: you can skip the fiddly bits of the Merica design). To make this with the Cricut: Start a new project in the Cricut Design Space, upload the file (vector), weld the layers, adjust your size, place your freezer paper shiny side down on the cutting mat and cut!
- Place the cut freezer paper shiny side down on the t-shirt and iron it in place. You'll have to place the insert of certain letters such as R in place and iron them as well.
- Place a piece of cardboard inside the shirt. Gently dab fabric paint over your stencil and allow to dry, ideally at least 4 hours.
- Peel up the paper to reveal your awesomely American shirts!
For the iron on transfers simply download the designs, print on iron transfer paper, and follow the paper's instructions for ironing it to your shirt!
Here's to MERICA, Land of the FREE, Home of the BRAVE!
Wishing you and yours a wonderful Independence Day!
Please note this post contains affiliate links, when you make a purchase through these links I make a tiny commission, thank you!!! Also, as always, the free downloads on this site are for personal use only.