All you need for this tee shirt makeover is a fabric pen, to easily turn a boring, basic tee into a cute top. You can buy cheap pocket tees at most major retailers, like Old Navy (and you can usually find really fun colors on the sale rack at Gap). I bought my shirt from Uniqlo for about $10. They started their U.S. invasion in the last few years, is there one near you yet?
I think I’m going to go back to the stores and get a few more tees and coordinating fabric pens, because I have so many ideas for other designs! Flowers and polka dots, stars and stripes, big polka dots and tiny polka dots, etc, etc. This could also be a fun summer project for kids. I know I LOVED wearing my own creations when I was a kid (and even now, who am I kidding?).
A quick note: using a white pen on darker fabric added a little extra time to this project. I ended up going over the stripes 3 times to get them to the level of opacity that I wanted and it lended a more “homemade” feel to it because they weren’t quite as straight as I’d intended. But I like the look, personally. If you’re using a lighter fabric and/or a darker pen, you probably won’t need to go over your design as many times.
One Year Ago: Pistachio, Pretzel and Dark Chocolate Brittle. Salty, sweet and crunchy all at once!
What you’ll need:
a pocket tee
a fabric pen or pens in coordinating colors
a piece of paper or cardboard to prevent bleeding onto fabric or work surface
What to do:
1. Wash and dry your tee.
2. Line the pocket with a piece of paper or cardboard to prevent it from bleeding through the fabric. Use the pen to draw vertical stripes on the pocket. Let the paint dry and repeat as many times as necessary to get the lines as dark as you want it.
3. Put a piece of paper or cardboard under the fabric around the neckline. Use the pen to draw polka dots along the edge of the neckline. Let the paint dry then repeat if necessary.
4. Make sure you let the paint dry before wearing.
