Challenge Dress #4 – Freezer Paper Stenciling

Ashley from Lil Blue Boo has some really great tutorials on her blog in regards to freezer paper stenciling (click here to see her tutorial).  I personally had never tried this before, but I thought for the “challenge” I would give it a whirl and boy am I glad I did!!

You can find freezer paper in your local grocery store in the section where you find your plastic sandwich bags, aluminum foil, wax paper, ect.  You get a lot of freezer paper for very little money!

Here is how I did my freezer paper stenciling on challenge dress #4 & #5:

I cut out an image using the freezer paper.  I have a Cricut Expression machine, so I was able to cut out this scalloped edge easily with that machine (if you have one, try it – it works awesome!).  You can very easily cut your image out with scissors too.  Once you have your stencil ready, place the freezer paper (shiny side down) onto your fabric and set it with your iron.

Then take your fabric paint and fill in your stencil.

This is what your stencil will look like when it is filled in completely.

Allow your image to dry for several hours, then simply remove your freezer paper.  The paint does not bleed at all through the stencil – it is amazing!

For this dress I used the Sienna Dress Pattern (once again – love this pattern!).  I used three recycled t-shirts to make this dress.

I used freezer paper stenciling (see above) to make the scalloped edge on each of the sleeves.  I then accented each scallop with a bronze metal stud.  I wanted the serging to show on the edges of the sleeves to add some additional edgy-ness to the dress.

My friend Megan’s daughter, Gracyn is a pretty tall 2-year old, so I used the 2T sizing, but just added additional length for her in the main part of the dress and the sleeves.

• All pictures of the challenge dresses were taken by Megan Abelard Photography.  More of her work can be seen on her website:  http://www.meganabelard.com
• The Sienna Dress Pattern is an incredibly well-written and easy to follow sewing pattern.  I highly recommend it for even the most beginner sewer or anyone who is interested in starting to sew with knits.  Click here to find out more information.