Project: $1 t-shirt for the kiddo

I've been working on a couple of fun, quick projects lately and thought I'd post about them on the 'ole blog.

The last time I was at the dollar store I turned a corner and saw a huge bin full of solid-colored t-shirts for... well... a dollar each. Wha??? One dollar for a shirt?? They had sizes ranging from kid's XS up to adult's 3XL. I grabbed three white 3XL shirts (to be used for another project I'll post about later), a large black shirt, and a kid's black XS shirt that I thought would fit Taylor perfectly.

I had seen some cool photos on a DIY website where people had used bleach to make cool designs on dark t-shirts and I thought I'd give it a try. I laid out the kid's shirt with a piece of cardboard under the top layer to protect the back of the shirt, laid out my design with masking tape, and covered the rest of the shirt with wax paper to prevent the rest of the shirt from getting bleached. I then put a mixture of half bleach, half water into a spray bottle, took the shirt outside, and sprayed it lightly.

Once the shirt had changed colors I brought it inside, removed the tape and wax paper, and immediately rinsed out the shirt with cold water before washing it to ensure all the bleach was washed out.


Obviously some of the bleach leaked through the tape and paper, but I actually think it looks really cool. I also used this technique to tie-dye the other black shirt and plan on using the fabric for another project later on.

What do you think? Not too bad for $1 and some water and bleach, eh?


P.S. Sorry about the grainy, blurry pictures. My good camera is unfortunately deceased and I'm in the process of replacing it.