Tag Archives: t-shirt art

What Should I Use to Draw on a T-Shirt?

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To create a permanent mark on a t-shirt, there are several things that can be used. These drawing implements are all quite permanent, however, and they will not come out of the t-shirt later. For this reason, it’s important to use a non-permanent way of marking the t-shirt before drawing over it with the permanent instrument. This ensures that you get the design you had in mind.

Use a pencil to make the basic shapes or letters that you want drawn in. If you don’t have a pencil, a ballpoint pen can be used to lightly sketch in the shapes. After this is completed, make sure that the sketched design is what you want the t-shirt design to look like. There may be a few revisions needed to get it exactly right. If any stray ballpoint marks get into the t-shirt, they will wash out the first time the t-shirt is washed.

To make the permanent marks, there are two great tools to use. The first is a black permanent marker. These are readily available in any office supply store and in many grocery stores and pharmacies. These will make a thick, black line that will never wash out. Recently, different colors of these markers have been introduced on the market, but the colors tend to fade over time. There are also a limited amount of colors available.

Another way to draw on a t-shirt is to use fabric markers. These come in a variety of colors and are specially made to keep the ink on the fabric. These come in bright colors that won’t fade from a t-shirt like an ordinary marker. Fabric markers can be bought in general merchandise stores and craft stores.

To use fabric markers on a t-shirt, draw over the sketched design just as you would with an ordinary marker. When you’re finished, the t-shirt will have to be put into a dryer for about half an hour to set the ink. After that time, the t-shirt is ready to wear. Washing it will not wash out the design and it will not fade for many washings.

There are also fabric crayons that are made fro kids to draw on t-shirts. These can be a little more difficult to use than fabric markers, however. Fabric crayons need to have a t-shirt that is kept flat in order to allow the crayons to color the fabric. The t-shirt can be taped down to make this easier. After the t-shirt is colored with the crayons, it may need to be dried or ironed, depending on the instructions with the crayons.

If the crayon needs to be ironed into the shirt, lay out a sheet of wax paper on a flat surface. Turn the t-shirt inside out and lay it on the wax paper. Iron the portions that have crayon on them, being careful not to burn the shirt. The instructions should have the exact ironing time. The shirt may also have to be dried after ironing, depending on the type of fabric crayons that were used.

How to Put Your Child’s Artwork on a T-Shirt

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Children are a blessing for certain. But raising them is undoubtedly one of the hardest things that you will ever do. It is easy to become completely overwhelmed with the demands of school let alone after school activities and weekend plans. The notebooks, book bags, papers, homework and artwork pile up and at the end of the day you are left wondering which way is up. The demands of your own life often take a back-seat to the needs and desires of your children and the push and pull of parenthood begins to consume your life.

While these are surely crazy times, they are also some of the most exciting and full years of your life and you must always be thinking of ways to preserve them for the future. Photographs are an easy option. By taking lots of pictures of school events, friends and family, you are ensuring that you and your children alike with remember these years down the road. But with all this worry about school, homework, and books, it is easy to loose sight of the smaller things that come home in the children’s backpacks.

A child’s artwork often takes a backseat to photographs when thinking of preserving family memories. This is quite understandable as the materials children for art projects are often not the sturdiest and keeping a set of paper mache planets is not always possible. So why not transform some of their precious artwork into a functional piece of clothing!

Artwork of any kind, including your little one’s drawings, paintings and scribbles, can easily be transferred onto t-shirts, canvas bags and other articles of clothing. There are many methods of transferring.  Any flat work of art can be scanned into a computer using a personal or business scanner. If you do not have a scanner at home, many copy centers, and office supply stores have scanners that can be used in-store for a small fee. Once your image has been scanned into the computer, you attach it to your t-shirt with special iron-on transfer paper that can be purchased at craft stores or office supply stores. Be sure to read the directions on the package as iron-on transfer require specific heat setting on your iron.  Or, to get a really good print that will last much longer than an iron-on you can upload your design online and have someone else print the artwork on the t-shirt.

Customizing a t-shirt with your child’s artwork is an amazing way to preserve the memory of these very special, if hectic, years. Parents can wear them proudly and show off their little ones’ budding talents at the store, on the street, or in the office. Customized t-shirts also make incredible gifts. What grandparent wouldn’t beam at the idea of wearing their grandchild’s special artwork around town.