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How Would You Mount a T-Shirt Design into a Frame?

Good day,

I've designed a cool T-Shirt in Photoshop, and the results came out fantastic on the T-shirt. In facts, the image on the T-shirt came out better than what i saw on the computer screen or the paper test-prints i made.

No doubt this has something to do with the idea that the print shop may have increased the color contrast and saturation in order to make up for the expected fading that will occur over repeated washings.

At any rate, I find myself enjoying the image. But because it's printed on the back of the shirt, i have resorted to hanging one of the shirts on the wall, just to look at it.

I'd like to somehow mount this image onto canvas stretcher bars, or maybe glue it onto masonite....anyway that i could somehow fix it flat onto a board so i can frame the image properly. I don't think the glue will work very well, because it will certainly alter the tone of the image. If i stretched it on canvas, i would only be able to stretch it very lightly, because the fabric is so thin.

Hey, maybe i could cut the image out and gesso only the back. That would give me a more solid base to start.

How would you guys crack this nut?

Thanks in Advance,

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Reply to
radio913
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Lay the T-shirt flat on some old newspaper and trace carefully around it. Now lay that pattern on foamcore and cut it out. Put the T-shirt on the foamcore, so that it's "wearing" the shirt.

Now you can mount the foamcore in a frame.

Reply to
Karen C - California

I would do something like I do when I put a t-shirt into a frame or Q-snap when doing waste canvas embroidery. I would cut the t-shirt apart, leaving yourself a good amount around the design. If you want the design and 2" of fabric to show, then draw a cutting line on the t-shirt that leaves you at least 4" or 5" of fabric all around the design. Cut a piece of WOVEN fabric AND a piece (or pieces) of Wonder Under the same size as the piece of woven fabric. Now, lightly iron the Wonder Under to the back side of the t-shirt and then iron that to the woven fabric. Now you have a piece of fabric that is very stable and won't stretch like the single layer of t-shirt would. You can now mount the fabric to stretcher bars or lace/pin it to a piece of foam core and frame it. Wonder Under doesn't take a lot of heat to get it set and I'm sure that you can't iron the front of the t-shirt directly. You should be able to iron the design side of the t-shirt with a proper pressing cloth so be sure to use one! Good Luck with this project & CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

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Reply to
Tia Mary

Hmm, interesting idea. Like the mounts you see in the stores, to show off the shirts.

But the frame will be square, not shaped like a shirt.

SLick

Reply to
radio913

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com skrev:

Do you also cross-stitch?

Reply to
Amber

Use gum arabic as the glue, Slick. Won't stain anything. You know, grade school glue - LePages. Non toxic...you can eat it. (I actually framed an antique German velvet pntg once that was mounted with gum arabic. After 50 years it was still holding on.)

Reply to
Erik A. Mattila

Thanks for the info, Tia. I'm glad i posted this in the textiles group.

I've never used Wonder Under, but it sounds like a type of hot-melt glue for fabrics:

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So it sounds like i could use raw artist's canvas (no gesso, ofcourse), and fuse/iron the shirt onto it, and then stretch it on the bars like i normally would with a regular painting.

In other words, i could replace the "Woven Fabric" you refered to above, with regular artist's canvas, right?

Slick

Reply to
radio913

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote:

Hi Slick -- yes, Wonder Under is a permanent, heat activated, paper backed adhesive fabric web used to adhere two porous materials together. It is ironed to the back side of one of the materials, the paper backing is then peeled off and the treated material is ironed to the second material. It comes in about a 20" width and can be purchased by the yard at any store that sells fabric and is also available in pre-cut pieces (several yards in length) at all craft shops like Michael's or Hobby Lobby, etc. There are also two different weights -- Light for things that will be sewn together permanently (like clothing that will have to be laundered, etc.) and Heavy for non-sewn craft applications. Considering your application, either weight will do since your finished project will not be put to any use other than a framed, decorative piece hanging on the wall. Wonder Under doesn't have to be used just on fabric either, as long as something is porous and can take the heat of the iron, you can use Wonder Under to heat bond it to another porous material. I have used it to bond parchment paper to mat board and also to wood. I would certainly recommend that you do a test piece (always recommended) using a bit of the t-shirt remnant and a corner of the artist's canvas. Different combinations of fabrics need different temperatures and different ironing times to get a really good bond. Just be careful that do not over heat the Wonder Under when fusing it to the first fabric. You want to heat it just enough to get it stuck to the first fabric so that you can carefully peel off the paper backing. Let us know what you decide to do, OK? Sounds like an interesting project :-)! CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

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Reply to
Tia Mary

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