Sunday, October 14, 2012

Polka-Dot Your Shirts with Cans and Tubes

Love polka dots? Why wouldnt you? Theyre large, theyre small, theyre fun and beautiful! They can be added to shirts and other clothing to change the look of the garment or just to give a splash of color and excitement. In previous times, a person would have to use a stencil or a stamp to create perfect dots every time. Even then, you would create the circle then have to go back and fill it in with paint. But, now you can use a different method to create dots on your clothing and accessories. You already have all the patterns you need to create magnificent dots of any size! Just lay out the shirt, look around the house, and come back with an assortment of polka-dot patterns.

There are many different paints you can use that are suitable for clothing. Fabric paints, squirt bottle paints or even regular spray paint will all work. Combine the paints with any number of patterns from around the house and youll have new shirts in no time. One great example of a pattern for your new polka-dot shirt is an empty can. Cut the bottom from the can, clean it well, then set it on the shirt.

Spray or squirt the paint through the can and onto the shirt. You can even use a paintbrush and acrylic paints. The can prevents spattering of the paint and the bottom can opening makes the perfect dot. If using a paintbrush simply dip it in the paint, insert it in the can, then twist the paintbrush until the dot is formed. Carefully lift the can away from the shirt so that you dont smear it. Make much smaller dots by using an empty bathroom tissue roll. Set it on the shirt and add your paint through the opening. Move the tube to a new location each time you want to make a new dot. Instead of a bathroom tissue roll you can use a piece cut from a paper towel roll. Create a specific pattern or just randomly create dots all over the shirt. Mix and match tube and can patterns to make various sizes of dots on the shirt. Plastic deli containers are another good way to make the round shapes on the shirts. Remove the lids, cut out the bottoms, then set them on the shirts as patterns. The deli containers come in a variety of sizes that are perfect for making polka-dots on your clothing and accessories. The dots are perfect for purses, shoes, pants, shirts and even hats. Have you recently emptied a roll of tape? Scotch tape, of course, has a hole in the middle thats good for making dots, but masking tape or duct tape comes on a cardboard tube thats perfect for the dots. The cardboard rolls range from very small, as with electrical tape, or very large like an empty duct tape roll. Do you have an old vacuum thats headed for the dump? Cut off a short piece of the hose to use for making dots. Other things you can use include old hair rollers, stacked key rings, cuff bracelets, empty spice jars with the bottom cut off, a Styrofoam cup with the bottom removed, a piece of pipe, and many other things. Anything tubular in your house, whether plastic, wood, metal or cardboard, can become patterns for polka-dots. Some of the things, like a pipe for example, can be cleaned and used for something else. Other patterns, like a cardboard tube, should be thrown away after several uses. The bottoms of the cardboard tubes tend to start losing their shapes after wet paint soaks into them. Home improvement stores are full of things that are tubular. Plastic tubing, for instance, is sold for everything from transporting water for your ice maker to carrying water to your faucets. This type of tubing ranges in size so that you can create even small dots on your shirts. The tubing is sold by the foot and is not expensive. Its fun to change the look of clothing and accessories by painting them but dont go out and spend big bucks for rubber stamps and ink. Look around your house to see what types of tubes or cans you have. These will become the patterns for all your new clothes. The technique is easy, inexpensive and will produce perfect polka-dots every time!

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