We’ve collected vintage handkerchiefs here at Antiquaria for years. There’s something so sweet and sentimental about the delicate fabric and pretty designs. For today’s DIY tutorial, we repurposed a few of them as gifts for some brides-to-be in our lives. This simple and fun project is the perfect thing to make for a loved one on their wedding day, or for you to give your mom or gals on your own wedding day. –Bailey and Emma of Antiquaria

Materials

Vintage handkerchiefs

Printed “For Happy Tears” design (or a design of your choosing)

Vertex Screen printing Ink, we used black

High quality pointed paintbrush

Jar of water (for mixing and cleaning paint)

Iron and pressing cloth

Step 1. Print out the “For Happy Tears” download (available here) or design your own to fit the handkerchief you’d like to letter. Lay the design underneath and set something heavy toward the top to weigh down the fabric. Luckily, most vintage handkerchiefs are made of pretty transparent fabric so seeing the design is very easy.

Step 2. Prep your paint. We used a water based screen printing ink that we had on hand and diluted it with water so that it would flow nicely through our brush. Test the ink consistency on a scrap piece of fabric. Too much water will make the paint spread and not give a crisp line.

Step 3. Carefully trace the design. It’s always best to write on the very (thin) tip of a paintbrush. For the thicker portions, come down a bit to give the line some weight. Want to see the lettering in action? There’s a video of Bailey lettering an entire handkerchief on our blog.

Step 4. Heat set the design to make it waterproof. Simply follow the manufacturers instructions using an iron and a pressing cloth.

All artwork © 2015 Antiquaria and is made available for personal use only.

Photo Credits: Antiquaria for Oh So Beautiful Paper