I would suspect (or hope) that I am not the only mamma out there that has sometimes wished something they saw in the little girls clothes section came in an adult size. Oh how I felt that way when I came across this little gem of a sweatshirt for my littlest chica at H&M a little over a year ago. I am not even sure she liked/likes it that much, but I loved it so dearly I had to buy it and I still am utterly thrilled every time she wears it.
Needless to say, it was a complete and total lightbulb-epiphany-total ah ha moment when I thought why don't I just make myself a knock-off adult version one???!?!?!? DUH!!! Only took me a year to think of it, but I'm thrilled to give it a go!
So here's how I did it:
Supplies:
White sweatshirt (pick something nice and comfy that you like the fit of, mine is just a cheap Hanes one from walmart)
Washable glue (elmer's or other)
Rit Dye (or any dye, I chose Lemon Yellow, you've got lots and lots of options here!)
Black fabric marker
Fabric paint (white, pink, blue)
Step 1:
The inspiration top is yellow with an allover pattern of white hearts. The way I went about getting this look was to do a sort of "batik" technique using washable glue to first polka dot my sweatshirt. The idea here is that when you dye the fabric the areas you've saturated with washable glue will not take but the glue will/should wash off once you launder it leaving those areas white. Pretty awesome, right?!?!! I am totally revisiting this technique on more projects! **Note I just went with dots but you could totally do the hearts, or maybe some writing!!!*** I did the front with a piece of cardboard in between the layers of the shirt, then after it dried enough to be tacky I flipped it and repeated on the back side. After this step, let your glue dry overnight. (***UPDATE: wish I had been more generous with my glue dots for a stronger resist, maybe even 2 layers, they looked FAB at the beginning of the dying process but they began to melt off and in turn dye a little bit, so the contrast wasn't near what i wanted, but there's always next time! Also if I was too worried I could go back over with a bleach pen . . . but i'm not :P)
Step 2:
Dye according to package directions. I've used several brands, and I don't really have a favorite! You'll need some rubber gloves and a bucket or stainless steel sink. Don't be intimidated by dying fabric, it's easier than you think!!!
Step 3
Replicate your image. I did quite a few practice runs on freehand copying this image before I really went with it! I would suggest using a pencil to lightly sketch on the shirt first. Once you have the design how you want, fill in the lines with the fabric pen and any colors with the paint. Take your time!
Step 4:
Embellish! I just hand tacked on a simple fabric bow.
And there ya go!!! Wooooooooooooould we say I can pull this off???? hahaha don't care! I'm doing it anyways!!! This was such a smashing success I can't wait to pick another item out of my girlies' wardrobe to knock off!!
Linking up with Today's Creative Blog
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