State Tees Tutorial + Free Silhouette State Cut Files (all 50!)
I was going to start off this post by telling you all about my tee shirt collection, but what went from me making a single Silhouette cut file for Oklahoma to make some super cute team colored tees turned into me feeling badly and making 49 other cut files so as not to leave anyone not in Oklahoma out. What can I say, I can be incredibly guilt driven…
Yes, I spent an entire day making cut files for all 50 states that you can download and use to your heart’s content. But a word of warning, if you’re from one of those itty bitty states up in New England (or any state, really) and you see there’s a problem with your state, give me a shout so that I can fix it up. Some states were such a bear to draw and I hate the idea of you having a wonky, messed up state!
Just click on the name of the state to visit the download page for your free Silhouette cut files. (or get all 50 states as an SVG zip file here)
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- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
And now let’s get down to how I made my state tees:
- Silhouette cutting machine
- freezer paper
- hot iron
- fabric paint
- sponge brush
In Silhouette Studio, take your Silhouette State Cut File and size it appropriately for your shirt. Add in any words or shapes that you’d like to incorporate. I used a heart one one and the word “state” for an Oklahoma State University themed tee shirt.
Attach your freezer paper shiny side down to the cutting mat. Use the cut settings for regular paper.
Gently weed your pieces (the paper is kind of gentle) and place shiny side down on your tee. Use your hot iron to set the freezer paper down.
If applying letters as I did, you can use an air soluble marker and a ruler to help place your letters accurately.
Using an up and down motion, daub paint onto the tee shirt. An up and down motion will produce less bleeding than brushing the paint on will.
When the paint is dry remove your freezer paper by gently peeling away.
And here a tee I made myself that shows off my love for my state in the crimson and cream of my favorite team, OU!
And here is the tee I made for a friend and Oklahoma State fan… boo! Just kidding :)
I got one shirt on sale for $2.50 and the other for $3.50 so these were some pretty cheap shirts. My freezer paper is pretty darn old and I couldn’t get it to stick as well as I’d like so there is some bleeding that happened. At least I think it happened because the paper is so old. If you have any thoughts on this, let me know in the comments, please!
So grab your free Silhouette state cut files and get to making some cute and cheap tees!
Written by Allison Murray - Visit Website
Comments (39)
Ama
September 27, 2013 at 5:13 PM
Wow! What a nice idea! Designs are really cute! Let me know if you plan making one for Belgium…hahaha…to bad I don’t have a Silhouette :(. Have a nice WE!
Allison
September 27, 2013 at 9:39 PM
If you get a Silhouette, I’ll make you one for Belgium, I promise, Ama :)
tammy b
September 30, 2013 at 9:45 AM
Wow, thanks Allison!
Allison
September 30, 2013 at 10:00 AM
You’re quite welcome!
Lisa M
September 30, 2013 at 11:23 AM
You rock! Thanks so much for this!!
Allison
September 30, 2013 at 11:34 AM
Oh, thanks! Have fun with your cut files :)
Abbie
September 30, 2013 at 8:04 PM
How sweet are you to make all these free downloads?! I grew up in KS a half mile from OK, but am now a Missourian and am super excited for the options here. Thanks so much! You’re awesome!
Allison
October 1, 2013 at 8:11 AM
Oh, we’re really close together, then! You’re quite welcome about the files…now you have the hard task of selecting your “favorite” state :)
Sandi
October 23, 2013 at 9:06 PM
Thanks so much for putting these out there. Love your work and it gives me lots of great ideas.
Allison
October 24, 2013 at 11:26 AM
I’m so glad that you like it and that the files will be helpful, Sandi!
Marilyn
November 11, 2013 at 7:34 PM
I absolutely LOVE this project! THANKS so much for sharing all these state files…YOU ROCK!!
Allison
November 11, 2013 at 7:55 PM
You’re so welcome and I’m glad you love the project. Thanks for taking the time to comment :)
Chery
December 29, 2013 at 3:28 PM
Love these! Thanks will be making a few for my kiddos- have one at OU, one at OSU and one at UCO!!!
Bridgett
January 3, 2014 at 8:37 PM
Thank you so much! This will make such a cute cheap gift! GO VOLS!
Allison
January 10, 2014 at 11:13 AM
I don’t know who the Vols are, but I agree! And you’re quite welcome, too :)
Melinda Rogers
July 29, 2014 at 12:54 PM
The Vols are University of Tennessee Volunteers. Great ideas, BTW. I am waiting for Silhouette delivery TODAY!!!
Nicole
January 10, 2014 at 11:13 AM
Wow…this is awesome! State shirts and frames have been a to-do on my list for a while now! And I’m with Bridgett…Go Vols!
Allison
January 10, 2014 at 11:26 AM
Haha! These Vols. I need to Google that! You’re quite welcome :)
Nicole
January 12, 2014 at 12:48 PM
Allison, it’s the Tennessee Volunteers :)
Allison
January 12, 2014 at 3:23 PM
I finally did Google it, but thanks! Go Vols :)
Missy
January 26, 2014 at 4:26 PM
I have learned so much about freezer paper stencils by trial and error from painting various sayings and monograms on canvas to sell at a craft show. I iron the freezer paper onto the fabric and paint it immediately or it tends to bubble up a bit and cause the paint to bleed under the stencil. Another thing I discovered is that the stencil brush technique (dabbing the paint on) doesn’t work quite as well as just using an artist brush and painting it on. I found a tip somewhere (probably on Pinterest) that suggested flipping the design on the Silhouette software and cutting the freezer paper with the shiny side up. It seems to cut much better that way. I have also used these techniques for painting some t-shirts. Hope these tips are helpful! Thanks so much for the state cut files!!
Kim
March 13, 2014 at 2:35 AM
Thanks for the cut files of all 50 US States! You’re amazing!
Michele
March 13, 2014 at 3:13 PM
Thank you for doing this. What a lot of work!!!
Tessa Rathsack
January 30, 2015 at 3:43 AM
Thank you so much!! This is amazing!
Cassie Edington
February 18, 2015 at 3:32 PM
What kind of paint are you using? How does it wear? Love these files!! Thank you!
xoxo,
-cassie-
Allison Murray
March 15, 2015 at 9:51 AM
I almost always use Tulip Soft Fashion Paints! They are the best as far as consistency and they wear beautifully!
lisa annette lee
February 25, 2015 at 12:18 PM
Thank you so much for sharing this! I was about to try and do it myself for my granddaughter’s room.
Janet
March 15, 2015 at 10:49 AM
My computer must be too old to have these come up properly. I just keep getting error messages and then asking me where I want to open them up in. I choose word but it just came up as symbols all over. sigh.
Allison Murray
April 8, 2015 at 5:42 PM
You’ll need to open them in Silhouette studio.
stacey grimes
April 14, 2015 at 10:24 AM
Will this file work on a Mac? I got message saying not supported.
thank you,
Stacey
Allison Murray
April 14, 2015 at 6:33 PM
I believe it should work on a Mac. What version of Silhouette Studio do you have?
Adrianne Surian | Happy Hour Projects
August 5, 2015 at 7:26 PM
Thank you, thank you! You even got the little islands in the Great Lakes around Michigan. If this project turns out how I like, I’ll be sending people your way for their own state. :)
Jewelry Around the World Day 3: Great Lakes Stamped Enameled DIY Necklace
August 19, 2015 at 7:01 AM
[…] cut your own. I used my Silhouette machine, and the free cut files for all 50 states that I found here. You will only need the shape of the state to add enamel to your pendant, but because I wished to […]
Janet
January 30, 2016 at 2:10 PM
I couldn’t open the files. What am I doing wrong?
Allison Murray
January 31, 2016 at 10:13 AM
What program are you trying to use?
Pat Patrick
February 1, 2016 at 2:00 PM
Someone has adapted your state files for an idea of the US map on burlap as a wall hanging to track ROW X ROW travels on … we LOVE this idea too! Scrap fabrics different for each state and markers for each quilt shop visited….
Thought you might be interested to see your brain child blossoming farther as a hybrid.
Thanks SO MUCH for these great files!
Lori
April 18, 2016 at 7:32 PM
Does one have to have permission to use a state stencil, to make products to sell in a personal business?
Allison Murray
April 19, 2016 at 1:00 PM
Shoot me a quick email allison @ dreamalittlebigger.com with what you intend to do with it and we’ll talk. Thanks!
Karen
March 26, 2017 at 10:23 PM
Thank you so much for sharing these files! They are great.