by Chloe

Created on: June 11, 2008   Last Updated: February 08, 2011

What's a better way to bond with your child then getting together and crafting something simple and beautiful. Your child will always cherish the day you both made this piece of work which is called wearable art. Teach your child how to paint on t-shirts, sweatshirts, tote bags, hats and canvas shoes. There are a lot of ways to do this, you can transfer a design to the t-shirt or you can use animal or alphabet sponges, you can rubber stamp a design. Children can learn to paint with brushes on clothing, if they want. They can also learn to use beads when designing their apparel. There are so many things available on the market for your child to be creative. There's a product on the market today that is one of the easiest way to apply a transfer of any kind to a garment. These are called fabric crayolas. There is only eight colors, and they are sold as a set. Directions on how to apply are on the package. Today you will learn one of these methods. With this method you will learn to paint by applying pressure to the bottle with your hand. Have fun doing this project with your child.

First you need to pre-wash your t-shirt and iron it.
Let your child pick out the colors she would like to paint with.
Let your child pick the theme and stencils to put on the t-shirt.

Place cardboard between t-shirt, so paint won't bleed to the back of t-shirt.
Help your child lay-out the stencils and tape.
Tape is good so the stencils won't move.
Lightly outline the stencil with a dressmaking pencil or fabric marker.
Remove stencils and now you can paint.

Practice with your child painting on art paper with fabric paints, before getting started.
You can also practice applying pressure on a fabric swatch.
Shake paint bottle (No paint brushes used).
With heavy pressure you will get thick lines.
With light pressure you will get thin lines.

Now start painting. When finish let T-Shirt thoroughly dry.
Heat set by tumbling in the dryer for 20 minutes.
Beads can be sewn-on or glued.
Make matching tote bag and cap.

Hint: If you don't want to use stencils, just let your child paint freehand on the t-shirt.
A new fashion trend is using beads on everything from clothing to hats and shoes.

Things you will need:
T-shirt (Polycotton)
Fabric Paint (Any brand)
Tote Bag (Small for Child)
Stencils or Freehand
Beads (Sew or Glue)
Masking Tape
Dressmaking pencil or Fabric marker

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