Want another fun, easy way to dress up a basic tee? Look no further than this week's tutorial! Use your favorite city's skyline, plus some dye, to make an ordinary tee spectacular!
You'll need a black fabric marker, some dye, an old paintbrush, and fabric (or a pre-made tee).
I'm starting from scratch with this project, mostly because it's easier to embellish a flat piece of fabric than a finished garment. (It's also a lot easier to start over if you make a mistake.) And, I really wanted an excuse to make up the Liberty Jane baseball tee...
First, I cut out the front of my tee. Then, I used chalk to mark off the bottom of my skyline, making sure to leave some room for the hem later on. I marked the approximate top of the skyline with a pin.
I found a picture of the Seattle skyline on the internet, and started drawing it on the tee. It's a good idea to practice first on a piece of scrap fabric!
If you don't feel like freehanding, you can also lay your fabric over your inspiration skyline, and trace. Tape both the image, and the tee front, to a window, to give yourself a little helpful backlight.
When you are happy with your skyline, protect your tee front with a press cloth, and iron it to heat-set the ink. (Your fabric pen probably came with directions about how to do this, but 30 seconds at a med-high heat is usually a good bet.)
Next: the ombre wash!
I got my tee front thoroughly wet, then daubed on very concentrated dye with my paintbrush, and let it sit for a while. It looks really dark and intense in this photo, but a lot of it rinsed out, giving a very delicate look instead. How dark a color you get, depends on the fabric you use, how concentrated your dye is, and how long you let it sit.
In any case, be sure to give it a gentle wash in detergent, to get out any remaining dye molecules, before drying and heat-setting it again.
Finally, all that's left is to sew your beautiful new shirt front to the other pieces of the tee.
Thanks for following along, and have fun with this!
For Pixie Faire,
Melinda
169 Comments
My favorite city is Seattle. Just like your shirt. I love it because it is situated close to lots much natural beauty. In one day you can go to the mountains and then spend time hanging out on the beaches of Puget Sound. Pike Place Market is always a great way to spends the day and ride the new Wheel. Then take the monorail to Seattle Center and go up to the top of the Space Needle and watch the sunset. So many great things to do and explore.
My favorite city is Orlando because it’s got theme parks and people from all over the world. This lets me to meet and make new friends. AND it’s going to have an American Girl store opening before the end of the year. I can’t wait.
My favourite city is Toronto because of the people, things you can do and it is relatively safe.
My favorite city is Chicago because it is the first trip I took my granddaughter Isabella on. It was the first time she rode in an airplane and we had a great time! We made so many memories I will treasure for a lifetime and I hope she will too! We rode bikes along Lake Michigan and went on the sailboat Windy- also went to American Girl for their awesome dinner and shopping. Loved it!!!!
My favorite city is Kansas City Mo because I grew up close by there and my mother and brother still live there. I go back every chance I get and would love to be able to go the the American Girl store there.