I have a stockpile of t-shirts that no longer have a purpose, just waiting to be upcycled into other things. After leafing through Todd Oldham’s Kid Made Modern, I got just the inspiration I needed to pull this activity off. The set-up was a bit involved, but not too crazy. The fabric we used in this project came from a 2nd hand XX-large never-before-worn t-shirt that I picked up for 99 cents. Awesome.
I started by cutting a couple potatoes into diamond
and square shapes.
We chose four colors of paint and spread them thinly on paper plates.
A colorful toddler-selected palette. A trend-setting selection, that’s sure to catch the eye of designers for next season’s fashions.
I cut two bands of fabric from under the arms of the t-shirt, each one about 6″ wide. This is scarf #1, wrapped around a grocery bag so that the paint doesn’t soak onto the backside of the scarf or table. Let the stamping begin.
Stamping all over.
After experiments with stamping reached their pinnacle, painting on stamps and scarves was underway.
Then the request for fabric markers came in.
And finally, after adding some apple stamps on day 2, it was done!
After N wore this simple no-sew scarf for a bit, I could see that it wants to curl up inside-out, rendering the designs almost invisible. Bummer. So it looks like I may need to add a little stitching and a fabric backing to make it work better. Aesthetics aside, this was a fun activity that made us feel good about repurposing fabric and veggies into art.
Happily shared with The T-Shirt Diaries
Ms D – You know I love your blog, but I especially want to call out how much I love your photography… Hot stuff!
Ms. W… I got a little lighting direction from Mr. D on this one. It’s nice to have a film maker in the family, eh? Did you girls ever make the sunprints?
I love this, oh so much!
I am all about the scarfs, this is great and the pictures are amazing. Any chance you shot them with a Holga?
When do I stop by N’s studio to make my own scarf?
I do not want to impose, but today it’s my birthday!
~{*;*}~
Happy Birthday to you!! You are most welcome to come over and make a celebratory birthday scarf anytime. I messed around with digital after effects on the computer, but a Holga would have been a lot of fun, too.
What a great project. And such a stylish outcome! I will definitely be trying this, many thanks for the lovely idea and all the others too on a thoughtful blog. Miriam x
Hi Miriam! Thanks for stopping by. I look forward to seeing your take on this project. xo, r
Am so impressed with N’s ability to use the art supplies so independently! No bias here : )
Like anything: practice, practice, practice makes perfect. Well, not perfect exactly, but some semblance of mastery….or at least independence!