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Here’s a tutorial on how to make a bleach design shirt … with a cute shamrock design just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. I think it’s a good idea to have a St. Patrick’s Day shirt around for these kind of occasions … my daughters sometimes have “Spirit Week” at school, so this shirt is quite handy.
How To Make A Bleach Design Shirt For St. Patrick’s Day
My husband and I do not go out to the bars (almost at all), but we like to round up our friends and celebrate this lighthearted, happy holiday. I’m always on the look-out for cute t-shirts, too. (And some cute shamrock-inspired refashions, too!)
Honestly, though, all those shirts at the Salvation Army are so tacky and gross. I mean, happy is one thing. Sloppy is quite another. Today, I’m going to make a bleach spray shirt — out of a shamrock silhouette. Look below for the DIY, step-by-step sewing tutorial. Ready to learn how to make a bleach design shirt? Luck o’ the Irish to you!
This t-shirt would make a nice kid-friendly craft, but please be careful as bleach … well, it bleaches. Either wear old clothes or something protective (or even shorts).
Materials Needed:
- A plain green t-shirt
- Bleach
- Clear spray bottle
- Freezer paper
- A silhouette design — download my shamrock design
Step-By-Step Tutorial
Start with a plain green shirt. I got this one for half price day at Salvation Army. Men’s plain t-shirts are a great bargain on half-price day … you can literally make hundreds of different types of refashions from them!
Here’s the shamrock.
Cut it out.
So I’m testing this on one of the sleeves because I’m not too sure how much to spray. Iron it on the sleeve.
Be sure to protect the floor or whatever surface you are spraying with some leftover newspapers! 🙂
How to make a bleach design shirt? Easy! Just spray! I used a 70% bleach to a 30% water solution, and I sprayed at a distance … about 6 sprays.
I’ll confess here that I did this shirt with another shirt and I sprayed too close and too much so it looked like a big splotch of nothing. Bleach is powerful stuff. Make sure you protect your clothes, too!!!
The next step is to let the bleach dry. You don’t have to dry it completely, but it should be “dry enough.” Other tutorials that I found say only two minutes, but I think it should be more like 10 to 20 minutes. The longer, the better.
This is what the opposite side looks like. Here you can tell the color difference.
Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel away. So satisfying. 🙂
Okay, now it’s time to do it to the shirt. Make another silhouette out of freezer paper and iron it on.
Whoops! I got some bleach splatters on my shirt from a leaky spray bottle. S’okay … gives my shirt some character.
How to make a bleach design shirt? Easy! Just spray!Can you see the water droplets on the shamrock?
About two minutes after spraying, I “mopped” up the water on the shamrock. So it could dry better.
Peel away.
Here we are pre-wash.
Wash it in cold water. I’m not entirely convinced that this stops the bleaching process, but it does rinse out the bleach from your shirt for the laundry wash.
At this point, I washed my shirt in cold cycle in the washing machine.
This is what it looks like after washed and dried.
Get a well-fitted shirt, and mark the arm-pit and the top.
Also, mark the side.
Mark straight across.
Now, cut.
Make some arm-holes. I free-handed mine, but you can use your t-shirt as a guide.
This is what it looked like.
Cut out the neckline. This is not necessary if you are using a woman’s shirt, but it is if you are using a man’s shirt, because men’s shirt collars are ugly and are meant for sweat-catchers.
Sew the SIDES only (not the arm-holes!).
Final:
Here I am modeling my new shirt. 🙂