100 Projects in 1 Year. Week 1: Bleach Pen Shirt

I've decided to challenge myself to do 100 crafty projects in a year. I've basically skipped the month of January...but I think I'll still be able to pull it off. Here goes Week 1.

Week 1: bleach pen shirt

This was SO EASY! Seriously, like children (very careful ones) could even do this. Here is what you need.

1. a shirt that's not white (mine was $3.88 at target)

2. a bleach pen for whites (pretty cheap only about 5 or 6 bucks)

3. some plastic bags (or a piece of cardboard)

4. an old wash rag that you don't mind getting bleach on

I decided to cover my entire shirt with lyrics from Bullet Soul by Switchfoot. Some tutorials you read will tell you to draw the design in chalk first, I didn't do that. I was brave and went straight to work. The gel will bleed into the shirt a little bit so factor that into your design. 

Okay, step one: Put something (I used plastic bags) between the front and back of the shirt so that the bleach doesn't bleed through. Card board, wax paper, or plastic bags will do the trick.

Step two: Draw or write whatever you want on your shirt. Let the bleach sit for a while. You can see the fabric changing colors, so whenever you like what you see it's time for step three

.

Mine looked like this after I finished writing the lyrics:

Step three: Take the shirt to the sink or the bathtub and wash the gel off. I just put mine under the bathtub faucet and rubbed the gel off with my fingers.

Step four: Then I threw it in the washer with a few towels and hung it up to dry. Putting it in the dryer won't hurt your bleach artwork at all... I just didn't want my shirt to shrink.

Luckily, it's really warm for January and I'm going to wear it tomorrow! YAY I love warm weather.

This is what it looks like now:

Here is a link for another in depth tutorial with a few more pictures. 

Really, the possibilities are endless. I still have some bleach left in the pen so I'm going to be experimenting with it some more. If you try it, I'd love to see what you do! Link to it in the comments!

xoxo

Krackle