Watermark T-Shirt

The final pin I tried this week was one for my little Disney lover. I found a great Pinsparation for making watermark T-shirts, so I though I would try my luck with a famous mouse for my toddler.

The original pin that caught my eye was a T-shirt with watermark quotes:

The pin links you to the tutorial for creating the T-shirt: Watermark Tee Tutorial. The tutorial is really easy to follow.

Watermark Tee:

Supplies:

- White T-shirt

- Blue Elmer's Glue

- Clothing Dye

- The first step is to prewash\rinse the fabric. You will want to add the design on the Tee while it is damp. 

- For my design, I printed out a coloring book page from online of Mickey Mouse to transfer onto the T-shirt. There are many possibilities to choose from. Just use google images and search for coloring book pages for any character you want, or you can freehand any design. I also taped Mickey to a piece of cardboard and covered it with plastic wrap (so the damp shirt didn't ruin the design).

- Next you trace the outline or sketch the image you want on the T-shirt with Elmer's glue. Make sure you use the blue Elmer's glue; the tutorial stated that any other glue would NOT work. 

- Make sure the T-shirt is completely dry before you continue to the next step. I set mine out in the sun on a very hot day for about an hour. 

- Once the shirt is dry, it's time to dye it. Follow the directions on the dye box. Mine was to use one dye package for every 3 gallons. Since I used only about one gallon of water, I only used about 1/3 the package of dye. I mixed the dye mix with hot water, then added the shirt in the mix for 30 minutes. Stirring it every 10 minutes. Be sure to use protective gloves, and wear clothes that can get ruined if your dye splashes on you. 

- Last you rinse it in hot water until all the dye seems to be out, then rinse it in cold water. I just ran it through the washing machine, to make sure I got all the dye out. I obviously didn't wash anything else with it, or everything would have been red. 

- Once it is all rinsed, it's time to dry, then enjoy. 

I think mine came out OK, I think if I would have made the image a little bigger it would be a little clearer. I also think if I used a toothpick to even out the lines, there wouldn't have been so many "chunky" lines. I also probably should have used the entire package of dye so my toddler boy doesn't have to wear the color Salmon. Real men wear pink, Right?

I am going to call this one a Pinterest Success, just because I think the idea is amazing. I couldn't believe it worked so well. I blame myself for not having good tracing skillz. I always had a hard time staying in the lines. 

Vintage T-Shirt

If you ever want to have that vintage T-shirt feel in a T-shirt you already own, you aren't going to get it from this pin.

My T-Shirt Pinspiration was filled with so much promise, so much hope. To make any T-shirt have that vintage feel to it. The instructions were so simple, 1/2 cup of salt, a quart of water, and brine for 3 days.

But all I was left with was empty hopes and dreams. Maybe it was the shirt I chose, maybe I should have left the shirt brining for a month. Whatever the problem was, I will never know. What I do know is my T-shirt feels exactly the same as it did three days ago.

Before Brining

During Brining

After Brining

This was a Pinterest Fail. And a big disappointment, because I was ready to brine every T-Shirt I own. 

Racerback Workout Shirt

My first Pinspiration for my T-Shirt projects this week was creating a racerback workout shirt out of an old T-shirt. When I say workout shirt, I mean sit around the house and look like I am about to workout but instead eat chips and sit in front of the TV.

The shirt in the Pinterest Pin looks super cute, mine ah not so much. I mean the tutorial was pretty easy and all I needed was an old shirt and some scissors. It also said it would take about 15 minutes, but it took me a good 30 minutes. Here is how mine came out...

The back of mine came out really good, but I hated the front. Maybe it was just the shirt I chose, but it created almost like a shelf on the top. Don't get me wrong it helped catch any food that I dropped when I missed my mouth, so added bonus? But overall I don't think I will be transforming all my old shirts into racerback workout shirts or sit-on-my-butt-all-day-and-eat shirts. 

So I'll chalk this one up to a Pinterest half fail - half success. 

If you want to try to create this shirt, the tutorial is at this link: Racerback Tutorial 

Let me know how yours come out! 

Week 5 Theme...

I have now completed the first month of my Pinterest Challenge, only 11 more months to go! I have embarked on some interesting pins. Be sure to check out the pass four weeks of Pinterest Pins I have tried. There are been some good ones, and some not so good ones.

For week 5, I will be getting a little crafty with T-shirt projects. There are three projects I am going to try this week. The first project is to brine a shirt in salt for three days to give it the vintage feel. The second one is transforming an old T-shirt into workout tank top. And lastly I will create a watermark T-shirt, using Elmer's glue and some clothing dye.

I have been really excited about trying these Pinspirations, so hopefully they don't disappoint.