Stenciled T-shirt

cw: domestic violence.  For more information about domestic violence or how to receive help, check out this post I wrote a few years ago.

     In addition to being Halloween season, October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.  Each day, more than 20,000 calls are made to domestic violence organizations across the country.  In Maine, about half of all homicides in a given year are acts of domestic violence.  Millions of Americans are experiencing or have experienced physical, psychological, or sexual abuse at the hands of intimate partners or family members.  Many of these people are suffering in silence.  There are myriad reasons why, but lack of education around what relationship violence is, inadequate support systems, and a cultural refusal to believe survivors are all contributors.
     This month I challenge you to do something to take a stand against domestic violence.  Participate in an awareness event, donate to your local domestic violence organization, check in on your friends and loved ones.  If we all made a small effort, the sum of those small efforts could create a big change.  That change could save lives.

Flowers laid down at the 5th annual UMaine March Against Domestic Violence in memory of school teacher Amy Bagley Lake and her children Monica and Cody, who were killed by the children's father in 2011.

     Now to your regularly scheduled craft.  I used my Silhouette CAMEO to cut out the letters for this shirt, but letter stickers could work just as well.

Materials:

*T-shirt
*Letter stickers
*Spray on fabric paint

Directions:

*Cover your well ventilated work station with newspaper, scrap paper, or some other covering.

*Lay your clean, dry T-shirt down on your work surface.

*Stick the letter stickers to the shirt, forming the message you want to send.

*Paint the area around the letter stickers following the directions on the can.

*Let dry for a few minutes and then carefully peel the letter stickers off.

*Let dry the rest of the way.

*If your stickers are sufficiently sticky, the fabric paint should not get under the letters.  However, if it does, you can touch up these areas with fabric paint that is the same color as your T-shirt and a small brush, such as a nail art brush.