Just trying to cover a bleach stain with fabric paints.
For a few years, I've worn these bleach-stained jeans around the house. There were a few times when I accidentally wore it while I was out and about. I decided to mask the stain with a painting I'd be less embarrassed of if it were seen in public.
Design Inspiration
I don't know how I got the bleach-stained spot on my jeans. I've primarily worn these around the house when I didn't think I was heading out where the public could see the spot.
I thought about some of my favorite cartoon characters from past and present to cover the bleach stain. Looney Tunes, Tiny Toon Adventures, and Animaniacs were a few that initially came to mind.
While searching online for inspiration, I came across an image of Garfield clawing his way down tapestry while looking behind him. I thought this would be perfect for my already messed up jeans.
My nosey Dad saw me looking at this Garfield image and asked why I didn't paint my all-time favorite cartoon character. When he said that, I immediately thought, 'duh.'
I looked through my Disney Stitch spiral notebook and found a similar image of Stitch clawing at the notebook pages. I knew this was what I wanted to recreate on my jeans.
Preparation
My jeans were clean before I started painting on it. I folded and slipped parchment paper inside the leg to prevent the fabric paint from bleeding through. I grabbed a pencil and started sketching on the jeans.
I selected a few colors from my Crafts 4 All 3D fabric paints box. Since I didn't want to squeeze the colors directly onto my jeans, I also set aside a container of water and a few paintbrushes of different sizes.
Except the pencil didn't show. I didn't think it would've worked anyway.
I was convinced that a white graphite I used to pre-sketch my designs on various dark fabrics would show well. After all, it worked when I sketched Sonny Eclipse before using Poscas on a T-Shirt of a similar color.
The white graphite didn't show well on my jeans. Fortunately, I convinced myself I was semi-talented enough to start painting without sketching a design beforehand.
Painting
I started by painting a silhouette of Stitch's body over the bleach stain. This made me nervous. Yet, I constantly reminded myself that the jeans were already ruined, so I couldn't make it any worse than before I started.
Once I was satisfied with the silhouette, I started adding details. I often painted over details when something I did didn't look right.
I struggled with adding highlights and shadows. It's a part of painting and coloring I've been working on improving, but it always causes me to doubt myself and my abilities. Still, I tried my best by adding light and dark pigments to add a sense of depth and dimension without the need of outlining.
To deal with my struggles, I challenged myself to do my best to get the highlights and shadows right so that Stitch is recognizable without outlines. I have a habit of outlining my art when it doesn't look good to me, and I'm trying to challenge myself to do different things.
Thinning the paints with water made it easy to apply and blend the colors. Most importantly, it allowed me to keep much of the painting smooth without texture. Only the eyes and nose were textured.
I used different colors to paint the claw marks. I used a detail brush to make jagged lines from the tips of Stitch's claws leading away from him. I then used the remainder of my paints to add a shadow around the body.
I left the paint to dry for a little over 24 hours.
Heat Setting the Paint
This was my first time attempting to heat set fabric paint after I completed a design. I didn't realize this was something I needed to do until I researched fabric painting techniques online.
I folded and slipped parchment paper inside the leg to prevent the fabric paint from bleeding through. I placed a sheet of left-over packing paper over the painted part of the leg and started ironing.
I didn't know how long to run my iron over the painting, so I slowly moved my iron back and forth for a couple minutes or so.
The packing paper peeled off most of the painting with ease but was stuck over the eyes and nose. Again, the eyes and nose were the only parts of the painting that was textured.
As I gently pulled back on the packing paper, I thought the eyes and nose would peel off with it. I was pleasantly surprised when the eyes and nose remained. Some of the packing paper remained on the paint, but they washed off later.
Machine Washing and Drying
The biggest test was how the painted jeans would hold up after a wash and dry cycle. I threw the jeans with some ragged towels and blankets into the washing machine set to "colors/normal," "low soil level," and "normal spin speed" wash cycle.
The paint remained in tack when I removed the jeans from the washing machine. However, the test wasn't over yet. I threw the load into the dryer set to "mixed loads" on a "medium dry temp" setting. I wanted to know if this would ruin the painting.
My Thoughts
To my surprise, the painting survived! I was nervous to paint on my jeans, but I'm glad I did. I had fun after reminding myself several times that the jeans were messed up before I started.
The painting itself isn't the best. Up close I think a Disney fan would be able to tell it's Stitch. From a distance where most people would see it, it looks like a strange blue blob.
I'll likely continue to only wear these jeans around the house, but I'll wear it proudly if I do accidentally wear it while I'm out and about. I think I'd have enough pride to wear these the next time I head to Walt Disney World.
What's Next?
March is "Craft Month." Crafting is typically considered the creation of physical items. While I won't be crafting every day, I'll have a few crafts to share with you this month.
Will you celebrate Craft Month? I encourage you to try your hands at making something, anything just for fun. Whether you're skilled at crafting or not, consider it a stress-relief activity that'll also stimulate your brain!
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Thanks, and have a great day!
Simply Jelly Jam
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