DIY Ninja Turtle Onesie & Free Cut File

My nephew had a Ninja Turtle party over the weekend and I wanted to dress the boys in Ninja Turtle gear.  Jake had a couple of shirts to choose from but I didn't have anything for Lucas and I hadn't seen anything in stores either.  Finally, the day before the party I realized I was going to have to make it myself.

Back in October I made this pregnant skeleton shirt using a tutorial from Keeping My Cents.  I decided to use the same basic idea but with Ninja Turtles.  We had this bright green onesie that probably went with something once upon a time but didn't anymore so it became the base of my Ninja Turtle onesie.

To make this Ninja Turtle Onesie (you could also do this on a shirt if you wanted) you will need a green onesie, some freezer paper, black and red fabric paint (or blue, purple, or orange depending on the Ninja Turtle you want to make), a couple of foam brushes, and an iron.

I used my silhouette to create a stencil of the outline of a Ninja Turtle's face as well as the eye mask.  Next I measured the onesie and adjusted the size of the cut file accordingly.  Then I cut a piece of freezer paper to 8 x 8 and cut out the stencil with my silhouette.  Cut the stencil into the two pieces (face outline and eye mask).

Take a piece of freezer paper and iron it onto the inside of your onesie (the shiny side touching the fabric).  Once it is ironed on, flip the onesie right side out, and iron the stencil for the outline of the Ninja Turtle's face on.  Use one of the foam brushes to sponge the black fabric paint into the stencil.  You can wait 4 hours or if you are in a hurry, use a hair dryer to speed the process up.  Once the black is dry, peel off the stencil.

Lay the face mask stencil on top and iron it on (mine was still a tiny bit damp so I put a piece of parchment paper between the shirt and my iron just in case). Use the same process to sponge on the red fabric paint.

Let it dry, then peel off the stencil (you can use the hairdryer again to speed it up).  Let it dry overnight before washing and wearing.

It is super easy and I was thrilled with how well it turned out.  I got a lot of compliments on it and I'm sure you will too.  It is amazing how a little DIY can look so professional!

Ninja Turtle Stencil