Leah just had her 4th birthday, and she requested an art party.  I love to make handmade party favors for the kids, so I decided to make some art smocks to protect their clothing.  What would an art party be without painting, after all?  I wanted something that would protect the kids’ clothing completely, even the sleeves, so I decided to use large t-shirts to make them.  To dress them up a bit, I added Leah’s hand print, and the quote, “Every child is an artist.”  I used my Silhouette for the stencil, but if you don’t have one, you can still make the smock without the words.  Keep reading because I’ve also got a great GIVEAWAY for you today!

To make them easy to put on and take off, I cut open the back and made ties.  T-shirts are perfect for this since the fabric does not fray.

Each of the kids at the party got an art smock to take home.  They wore them to protect their clothes while they painted 8×10 canvases.  I chose white shirts so that all of the paint they get on it will show.  The more paint they get on them, the cuter they become!

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To make these art party smocks, you’ll need:

• white shirt, a couple sizes too big
• white thread
• any color fabric paint for handprint
• black fabric paint for the words
• adhesive vinyl
• transfer tape or shelf liner
• foam stencil brush
• Silhouette cutting machine
• free Silhouette cut file

It’s easiest to make your design on the front of the shirt before cutting it up to make the smock.  Make sure to slip some cardboard or wax paper inside of the shirt to keep the paint from seeping through to the other side.  Start by painting your child’s hand with fabric paint and stamping it on the shirt.  You’ll want to use a lot of paint and make sure to press down firmly.  I used Leah’s hand for all of the shirts since it was her party, and we didn’t have time for each kids to make their own.

Cut and weed your vinyl to make a stencil.  You could use heat transfer vinyl for this, but I have a lot of regular scrap vinyl, so this was cheaper.

Use transfer tape or shelf liner to transfer the stencil to your shirt.

Peel off the transfer tape.

Paint over your stencil.  It’s better to do a few light coats than one dark one.  This helps keep the paint from seeping under the stencil.  I also like to use a foam stencil brush to dab the paint on rather than brush it.  Once that is dry, peel off the stencil and heat set your paint.  This usually involves ironing or putting the shirt in the dryer.

Now to make the art smock!  Turn the t-shirt over and cut a 2 inch strip from top to bottom to open up the back.  This should go down the center of the back of the shirt and cut off the tag at the top.

Cut off the top and bottom seams from the strip.

Fold the strip in half and cut it into two equal parts.

Pin the short end of one strip to the inside of the shirt, at the top, behind the collar.  Zig-zag stitch it in place and remove the pins.

It should look like this.

Repeat with the other strip, on the other side of the collar.

To keep the bottom hem from coming undone, you’ll also nee to zig-zag stitch over it on both sides.

That’s it!  So easy and very useful!  We’ve already used ours for several other projects to keep the kids’ clothes from getting messy.

Happy birthday to my not-so-little girl!

Want to Check Out More Silhouette Projects?

My Silhouette Challenge buddies and I are all sharing projects on our blogs today, so peruse the projects below for a wealth of Silhouette inspiration!

1. Cutesy Crafts // 2. Mama Sonshine // 3. Morena’s Corner // 4. Simply Kelly Designs // 5. Coral + Mint Design Co. // 6. A Time For Seasons // 7. Architecture of a Mom // 8. Where The Smiles Have Been // 9. Haberdashery Fun // 10. The Thinking Closet // 11. The Crafting Nook // 12. Get Silvered // 13. Tori Grant Designs // 14. From Wine to Whine // 15. Create & Babble // 16. Curly Crafty Mom // 17. unOriginal Mom // 18. The Small Stuff Counts // 19. The Experimental Home // 20. Creative Ramblings // 21. Adventures in All Things Food // 22. Minted Strawberry

Heat Press Giveaway

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