DIY cheshire cat shirt

check out the video above to see what I did!


what you need:

• a white shirt
• tye die: again I used the tie dye kit by Jacquard which included 3 bottles of dye, one extra bottle to mix colours!, rubber bands, gloves, soda ash and a really good how-to DVD (link will be below) 
• something to protect your working area, like plastic bags
• a rather small and stiff brush
• black fabric or acrylic paint 

what you do:

• solve the soda ash in the required amount of water (you can save the dissolution for about two weeks) 
• put your shirt into the dissolution and let it soak for about 20 minutes (this step helps to keep the colours from fading)
• take it out, rinse it and let it dry about 80%. I would not recommend starting to dye when your fabric is still wet, wait until it's still a little damp!
• now you can start to dye!
• I chose the colors blue and purple, just because I thought they would match the cheshire cat theme
• also I didn't worry about making it neat
• rinse your shirt under some cold water until the water runs clear  
• when it's dry, you can start to paint on the cat
• I sketched it on a piece of paper first, so I could get an idea of how I wanna do it on the shirt and it helped A LOT!
• a little tip for painting on the hair: again, don't try to be perfect! just draw on some careless and feathery strokes 
• also I would recommend to put something between the front and the back of your shirt, otherwise some of the paint might get through to the back! I used a wooden panel, which made the drawing process easier, too!
• when you're done drawing and it's all dry, you should iron the shirt. This step seals the kitty "print" and you're able to wash your shirt without worries :)

the products I used:
Jacquard Tie Dye Kit: http://www.amazon.com/Jacquard-JAC9320-Tie-Dye-Kit/dp/B0000205WQ
an old brush, sorry I don't know where it's from
Javana Tex Opak fabric paint in black http://www.idee-shop.de/shop/index.php?page=product&info=4241