4th of July Shirts

Happy 4th of July Weekend!

It's our first 4th of July as a family of 3, plus the pup, and I couldn't be more excited! Jed's parents, my baby sister, Tanya, and her fiancé Nate, are coming into town tomorrow tonight, and I have so much to get done. Meal planning, groceries and a bunch of cleaning. Hours of work are needed, and my windows of time are pretty short these days. My little Jemma is so active, and wants nothing more than for me to help her walk everywhere. 

I can't help it though, all I can think about is getting cute pictures of our first 4th of July together. And, as every girl knows, you gotta have a cute outfit for the day!  So, instead of cleaning, baking or shopping, I started painting! I am sure my company will understand!

Please try to see past the terrible backdrop and permeant cup ring. This is the heavily lacquered top of the wet bar/craft station. Before you ask, no... I did not pick it out. It came with the house and we haven't gotten that far on our remodel yet. I can't wait!

Here is what you will need: paint, fabric medium, brushes of various sizes (I used two sizes, a large and a smallish one with long bristles, pictured below), a few mixing cups (I just used red solo cups, because I want to party), a cup of water, a drying rag for your brushes (paper towel is fine too), a pencil and tape. Mix your fabric medium per the instructions on the back, but it is usually a 2:1 paint ratio. 

I decided to paint a flag, big surprise! 

I figured out pretty quick that the shirt wasn't going to stay in place when I ran the brush over it. To help, I taped down the shirt in each corner, it kind of worked. At this point I also should have checked to see if the paint was bleeding through, I didn't, and it was. This could have been prevented by sliding a piece of paper or scrap material between the layers of the shirt.

Since the red stripes on my shirt needed to dry before I could continue, I started on baby J's shirt. She is also getting a flag. Original ideas, I know.

I drew it first with a pencil, then followed the outline with the small brush. Filling in the center at the end for the desired effect.

As I was going for a more rugged/shabby chic look, this is how I left it. Then, using my small, long bristled brush, I painted messy wavy stripes. 

Easy peasy!

After my red stripes had mostly dried (I am not a patient person), I started on the blue.

First drawing my edges with the side of my large paint brush to get a messy line. The more imperfect, the better! 

Leaving lots of different layers of blue and even some white patches for a more worn look.

Using my small brush, I placed white paint dots where I wanted my stars to go.

This project was super easy. Took less than an hour to prep and paint. I will let the shirts sit for 24-48 hours, then I will heat set them so they can be washed in the future. 

How to Heat Set Cotton Material

First, turn off the steam setting on your iron. If you don't have a switch, then just remove all the water from the iron. Next, turn your iron on a medium to high setting, and iron the painted area, moving the iron around constantly. I always worry about the paint melting onto my iron. When I heat set, I place a scrap piece of fabric between on the paint and just iron overtop.