Textile marker shirt makeover
If you feel like customizing a plain shirt or you have one that could use a makeover, textile markers is one of the easiest ways of giving it a new look. Even if you don’t consider yourself artistic enough to experiment a lot, this is a simple idea that will work well, regardless of your drawing skills.
To make it easier, I chose a shirt that already came with a printed pattern. I decided to paint some random bits to break its repetitive print and give it a more interesting style. If you’d like to try this out, read the tips I mention in the section below. I would love to see your ideas and projects as well.
You will see that using textile markers is indeed quite easy. However, there are a few things to bear in mind. First of all, you have to test how the fabric is going to react to it when it comes to absorbing the colour and/or spreading it around: see the exact final colour and its intensity on the particular fabric you’ve chosen. I decided to remove one pocket from the shirt and take this piece of fabric for the testing. The marker I used had a very watery ink that would easily spread further outside of the desired areas. In order to overcome this problem, underneath the fabric I put a piece of kitchen paper that would absorb the excess of ink.
Also, keep in mind that you will need to iron the item after painting it in order to fix the colour. So, make sure that you choose an item made out of a fabric that will withstand these high temperatures. If you have experience and/or any tips on using textile markers, please leave your comments.
necklace > handmade by Mili
All photos by Mili