Paint Your Own T-shirt

For an artist, selling something he or she has made is really gratifying. As many of them admit, it’s one thing to get feedback from people they know, but there is something about a complete stranger liking their art piece, design, song, painting, or idea, so much that they actually decide to pay money to acquire it. Well, before getting ready to sell your original designed t-shirts at your local flee market or through your own website, you better start by reading this simple paint-your-t-shirt guide.

Regardless if you are planning to make this a family tradition or a one-time event for you and your friends, designing the layout of your t-shirt and then painting it on your own can is a fun and easy project to work on. Begin by purchasing your stock of plain cotton-polyester t-shirts from your local garment store. Cheap used white underwear t-shirts should be your first choice, especially if this is your first attempt as a fashion designer slash artist. But because most inks and paints are somewhat translucent, unless you really have to use those blue t-shirts, it’s better to use white ones as they are a much easier background to place your colorful palette on. An interesting idea, which might save you some money if you select to buy your t-shirts, is to ask your local t-shirt printing store if they would resell at cost price or even donate some of their white t-shirts to you; if you are a teacher and this is an idea of a school project you can argue that this actually improves their corporate social responsibility profile. Even if no freebies exist in your area, buying a pack of white underwear t-shirts costs less than you can imagine; avoid designer labels if you need those extra savings. You can also order the shirts direct from manufacturers, but then be prepared to wait a bit longer before your order goes through. Also, at this experimental stage, buy one size that will easily fit everyone.

Now that you have your white t-shirts it’s time to select your painting method. Visit your local craft or fabric store and ask them which brands they recommend for your type of project. Check the products’ life expectancy once applied on the t-shirt and compare prices, colors and application methods. With a huge variety of fabric sprays, roll-on paint bottles, air-brushes, acrylics, crayons, dye paints, batiking, or iron-on transfers, it is best if you take some time to select the best possible method for your time, money and expertise. Remember that experimenting is good at any stage, but if you want to have a ready-to-wear product after 24 hours, it is best to go with the method that you find the easiest to explore. Sponge painting, for example, is a great method to teach kids how to use colors on a white surface and how their patent might differ from the original design they had on mind. On the other hand, block painting creates a less versatile outcome as paint is transferred in a thicker layer onto the fabric as you place and press wood surfaces, or even sliced potatoes, after dipping them in paint. In case crayon iron transfers –which have to be designed and colored backgrounds– or acrylic paints and paintbrushes seem too difficult for you to handle, you can begin by using simpler painting methods like magic markers and writing paint bottles with roller ball tips. But whichever method you select be sure to place some old rugs or think pieces of cartons between the front and the back of the t-shirts in order to avoid coloring the other side by mistake. Do you feel more confident now? It’s time now to get your gear and paint away!

By: john