Help me paint even horizontal lines on a cotton shirt.

October 19, 2007 12:32 AM

Help me paint even horizontal lines on a cotton shirt.

For my halloween costume, I need a red and white 'candystripe' pattern shirt. I can't seem to find any shirts off the rack that fits what I want, so I've decided to buy a red shirt and paint on the red stripes on myself.

Any suggestion as to how I can do this? I am hoping to have the lines as horizontal and evenly spaced apart as possible. I am also hoping that stripes will line up on the front and back. Should I use a stencil or tape off the areas I don't want painted with masking tape? Are there fabric spraypaints out there or do I need some kind of special paint?

I am also planning on painting white stripes on a toque, any ideas for that?

posted by phyrewerx to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (7 answers total)

Make a T shaped form out of heavy cardboard that's big enough to stretch the shirt out on (you might want to make it several layers thick). Low tack spray adhesive will help to keep the shirt solidly on the form. Then tape your lines with masking tape, something paint won't soak through. Paint with spray paint (it's not something you want to keep, right?). Alternately, if you have access to an airbrush, you can paint with anything you can run through an airbrush.
posted by doctor_negative at 12:43 AM on October 19, 2007

Masking tape is your friend. Put cardboard inside the shirt to prevent bleeding.

Don't use"fabric paint." It's more expensive and not really as great as the old standby, plain crafter's acrylic paint, like this.

Use a foam paintbrush to apply the paint, but don't "brush" or sweep it on — tap/dab it on instead. Use basic up-n-down movements. That will prevent the paint from bleeding, especially near the edges of the tape.

This is the method I use for stenciling t-shirts.

If you use masking tape it will be easy to make the stripes match all the way around. Give each side AT LEAST a day to dry, and do a second coat if you need to. Once everything is dry, really dry, turn the shirt inside out, put the cardboard back inside, and lightly iron the painted areas on medium to set the paint.
posted by Brittanie at 3:50 AM on October 19, 2007

I had a similar problem with finding a vertically-striped v-neck sweater for my own Halloween costume this year. Instead of paint, I'm using colored duct tape from the craft store.
posted by HeroZero at 4:34 AM on October 19, 2007

Seconding some kind of fabric tape. Better than painting, sharper lines, can use glue or the iron-in crap to attach it.
posted by rokusan at 6:13 AM on October 19, 2007

Why not fasten ribbon to the shirt? It'd be much easier to do and a few yards of ribbon is pretty cheap!
posted by odi.et.amo at 6:44 AM on October 19, 2007

Say, are you going to be Waldo? The link describes painting and tape techniques.
posted by Marit at 12:16 PM on October 19, 2007

Does it have to be painted? Why not make the stripes out of red duct tape?
posted by nax at 6:39 PM on October 19, 2007