• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header left navigation
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
es_ES Español
  • About
    • Meet Tracy!
    • Contact Me
    • Disclaimers & Disclosures
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Policy
  • Holidays
    • New Years Eve
    • Valentine’s Day
    • St. Patrick’s Day
    • Easter
    • Fourth of July
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
  • es_ES
Oh, The Things We'll Make!

Oh, The Things We'll Make!

Make it yourself so that you control the ingredients!

  • Recipes
    • Appetizers & Snacks
    • Soups & Salads
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch & Dinner
    • Desserts & Sweets
      • frozen treats
    • Breads & Wraps
    • MIY Pantry Basics
    • Condiments & Sauces
    • Beverages & Smoothies
    • Story Archives
  • Make it Yourself
    • Arts & Crafts
    • Face & Body
      • Cleansers, Soaps, & Gels
      • Deodorants
      • Hair
      • Skin Care
      • Oral Care
      • Baby & Toddler Care
    • Home & Garden
      • Cleaning & Laundry
      • Garden & Hens
    • Soap Making
    • Upcycling
  • About
    • Meet Tracy!
      • More About Me
    • Contact Me
    • Disclaimers & Disclosures
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Policy
  • Recipes
    • Appetizers & Snacks
    • Soups & Salads
    • Beverages & Smoothies
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch & Dinner
    • Desserts & Sweets
      • frozen treats
    • Breads & Wraps
    • Condiments & Sauces
    • MIY Pantry Basics
    • Story Archives
  • Make it Yourself
    • Arts & Crafts
    • Natural Face & Body
      • Cleansers, Soaps, & Gels
      • Natural Skin Care
      • Natural Hair care
      • Oral Care
      • Deodorants
      • Baby & Toddler Care
    • Soap Making
    • Home & Garden
      • Cleaning & Laundry
      • Garden & Hens
    • Photography
    • Upcycling
  • Holidays
    • New Years Eve
    • Valentine’s Day
    • St. Patrick’s Day
    • Easter
    • Fourth of July
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
es_ES Español
Minion stamped paint on blue fabric

Stamping Fabric: Make a Minion T-shirt

Last Modified: June 8, 2020 // by Tracy Ariza, DDS // July 28, 2013 I may receive a commission if you purchase through links in this post. Learn more here.

es_ES Español

Make a minion t-shirt stamping fabric with paints using homemade craft foam stamps. My son loves this technique because he can help make his own clothes.

Make a minion t-shirt by stamping fabric with paints using easy homemade craft foam stamps. My son loves this technique because he can help make his own clothes.

A young boy wearing a blue t-shirt decorated with painted minions at the bottom.
Pin this post for later!

Over the last few weeks, we have moved from watching the Fox and the Hound to watching Despicable Me every day. We had received the movie for free with our new BluRay DVD plaver, and I, sick of watching the Fox and the Hound, convinced him to watch Despicable Me instead.

At first he protested the change, as always, but once he started to watch it, he was hooked. Since then, he has been pleading to watch the movie every day. So, I figured it was about time for us to make him a new t-shirt, a minion t-shirt!

Having him help me stamp on the balloons on the last t-shirt had worked out really well, so I decided to try to do the same thing again. We basically used the same technique with craft foam. First I cut out the basic minion body shape. In the movie they are all different, albeit similar, shapes and sizes. I figured for the shirt it was OK for them all to be the same, though.

Closeup of an oval cut from craft foam.

I cut out the body and used it as a guideline for drawing out some of the other pieces. I wanted to cut out the overalls next, so I traced around the body and marked off where I thought the top of the overalls should go. Using those marks, I drew them out and cut them out too.

Closeup of several shapes cut out of craft foam (in the form of a minion) next to a plastic minion toy

I used a craft knife to cut out the outline of the pocket in front. Then I cut out two circles: one for the outline of the glasses and one for the eyes. You can see I cut out four at first (two of each), but decided I really only needed two because some minions have two eyes and others only have one. I preferred to just stamp on each eye rather than have a stamp for two eyed minions and another one for one eyed ones.

Closeup of several craft foam shapes that make up the shape of a minion

I used a craft knife to cut out the center of the larger circle, forming the rims of the glasses. I then cut out arms and feet. In the end, I only used one arm. I should have used both arms, though, each with the angle cut in a different direction. That would have made it easier to stamp on some arms facing up and others facing downwards on the different minions. I also squared up the armhole of the overalls.

Closeup of a ruler on a plastic sheet with a special cutter.

This time I used plexiglass to back my craft foam stamps, but I have also used the cover of broken cd cases successfully many-a-time. 🙂

I cut one strip wide enough for the pieces, and then divided it into enough pieces for each stamp. Using a transparent backing is important so that you can see exactly where to stamp each piece.

Making stamps by gluing craft foam shapes to transparent plastic squares and rectangles.

I then glued on the craft foam shapes with contact cement.

Stacking the different craft foam stamps to for the shape of a minion.

I then stacked them up to see how they all worked together. I was pretty happy with it, so it was time to paint!

A hand holds a craft foam stamp painted with yellow paint over a blue t-shirt.

I find that the easiest way to apply the paint is to just apply it with a brush. It goes on quickly and easily. Once the paint is applied, move it into place and stamp!

A blue t-shirt with 4 yellow ovals stamped across the bottom, next to a craft foam stamp covered with yellow.

I found that the yellow wasn’t very bright on such a dark background T-shirt, so I stamped on another layer of paint. Having the transparent background on the stamps made it possible to stamp them in the right place easily.

Closeup of a craft foam stamp painted blue, being held over the yellow ovals and arms stamped across the bottom of a blue t-shirt.

I finished stamping all of the yellow before moving onto the blue overalls. You can see that I decided to have some minions with their hands up and others with their hands down.

Yellow ovals stamped across the bottom of a blue t-shirt, with blue overalls and yellow arms stamped on them.

As I did with the yellow, I ended up stamping on another layer of blue.

I stamped on some blue feet, and had two minions sitting and two standing. I directly painted on the legs of the two standing minions. You can now see why I prefer to stamp rather than paint with a paintbrush on T-shirts. The borders stay cleaner, and it goes so much quicker. Overall it just looks better.

Closeup of painted minions across the bottom of a blue t-shirt.

Continue stamping on the eyes (white) and the glasses (gray). I used a black fabric marker for adding on the black details. You can see that each minion has a different hairstyle. I also added gloves, eye color, the band that holds their glasses on, some buttons on their overalls, and Gru’s “G” on their pockets. I also went over the gray part of the glasses with some silver paint. I could have made them silver to begin with, but my silver paint is transparent and doesn’t show up well on its own.

A blue t-shirt with minions across the bottom on a table
SAMSUNG

There you have it. My son liked the “silly minions,” and had to wear his shirt right away.

It may look complicated, but really was pretty quick and easy. Obviously the majority of the work is in the preparation, but even that is quicker than it looks.

Even if you don’t make a minion shirt yourself, hopefully this gives some good ideas. You could also stamp the minions onto something else like a notebook or something else, or stamp your own design onto your fabric or material of choice.

On the blog, you can see that we used the same technique for stamping our DIY trick-or-treat bag, too!

What will you use it for?

A young boy wearing a blue t-shirt with minions across the bottom.
Category: Arts & Crafts, Make it Yourself

About Tracy Ariza, DDS

Tracy Ariza, B.A., D.D.S., left dentistry and the United States to found Oh, The Things We’ll Make!, writing to you from the Spanish Riviera. She loves making things herself in order to keep control of what goes in them. While far from perfect, she strives each day to live a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle.

Previous Post: « Delicious sausage patties in between homemade sausage biscuits with butter on the side. How to make Sausage Patties and Homemade Sausage Biscuits
Next Post: Puppy Binkie Pattern a super cute baby binkie or security blanket that looks like a puppy »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jolene

    June 2, 2014 at 8:46 AM

    I LOVE this shirt idea so much better than the solid yellow t shirt minion shirt i constantly see floating around on pinterest! I am going to give it a try for my son, who is 3, and loves the minions. We are taking him to Universal Studios in a month and I think he will be wearing this shirt. Thank you for posting such wonderful info.

    Reply
    • Tracy Ariza

      June 4, 2014 at 11:03 AM

      You’re welcome! It sounds like a fun trip. I would love to take my son there on my next trip to the US. Disney World is also on my to-do list. 😉
      I hope the shirt works well for you. I’d love to see the final result!

      Reply
  2. Ellie Jackson

    September 3, 2013 at 1:05 AM

    What kind of pain did u use

    Reply
    • TJ

      September 3, 2013 at 2:00 PM

      Any fabric paint should work well. I actually have a collection of several different types of fabric paint, and I have been successful stamping fabric with all of them.
      Some are runnier than others. If they are too runny, they may be hard to work with. If they are too thick, though, you may end up with a very thick layer of paint which, with some brands, may crack when washed. So, you may want to experiment with watering the thicker paints down.
      I live in Spain, so telling you the brands that we have here isn’t going to be useful to you elsewhere. I have used Dylan fabric paints for t-shirts in the past and really liked them. The other paints that I more easily acquire here, though, wouldn’t be readily available elsewhere. I hope that helps!!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Sidebar

Search

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Hello, I’m Tracy!

I love making my own natural products like soaps and lotions and my own pantry items like yogurt and salad dressings.
Why do I do it? Sometimes to save money, sometimes because it's healthier, but I always love having control of the ingredients!​
Oh, the things we'll make!...

More about Tracy

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Featured on Buzzfeed, Lifehacker, Fitness, Shape, Country Living, Healthline, Redbook, Redfin

Closeup of 4 bars of homemade soap. Two of them have been wrapped in brown paper and wrapped with ribbons. One soap is wrapped with red ribbon and the other with white ribbon.

Making an Easy, Basic Beginner Soap, and Then Making it Fun!!

Homemade prawn crackers on a plate in front of uncooked homemade prawn crackers and a roll of prawn crackers dough.

Prawn Crackers from Scratch

Impress your friends and save money by making your own soy sauce from scratch. Today we'll learn how to make a homemade shoyu, a fermented Japanese soy sauce made from soybeans and wheat berries. #shoyu #soysauce

How to Make Soy Sauce (Homemade Shoyu)

Two bottles of a homemade conditioner next to a wooden comb and a washcloth.

Easy DIY Hair Conditioner for Natural Hair

A small glass jar filled with an emulsified sugar scrub with a wooden spoon in it.

Easy Emulsified Sugar Scrub

Over head view of a spoon full of tomato paste over a jar full of it. A couple of fresh tomatoes lay next to the jar.

Easy Homemade Tomato Paste Recipe

Featured on Buzzfeed, Lifehacker, Fitness, Shape, Country Living, Healthline, Redbook, Redfin

White logo for Oh, The Things Well Make! website

Copyright © 2023 Tracy Ariza · Disclaimers and Disclosures · Privacy Policy · Cookie Policy