Patriotic T-Shirt Tutorial

My kids loved the shamrock shirts we made so much, that we decided to make patriotic ones for 4th of July.  It took us about 3 hours to make 4 shirts, including drying time.

Materials
- White shirt(s)
- Red fabric paint (I used Tulip Soft Fabric Paint- Red Velveteen)
- Blue fabric paint (I used Tulip Soft Fabric Paint- Royal Blue Matte)
- 3/4″ wide painters tape (or masking tape)
- Star stickers
- Paintbrush

Step 1: Tape flag outline

Use the tape to create the flag outline.  I started with the top piece of tape.  Then I made the short stripes.  The official flag has 7 short stripes, starting and ending with red, but I couldn’t fit that many on the boys’ shirts, so they just have 3 short stripes, 2 red and 1 white.  Next I taped off the box where the stars and blue paint will go.  I taped for the long stripes next, the official flag has 6, starting with white and ending with red.  On the size 5/6 shirt I did 4 stripes, on the 2/3 shirt I only did 2.  Finally, tape the right and left edges of the flag.

Step 2: Paint the red stripes

Use a paintbrush to paint the short and long red stripes.  As we painted we talked about why there are 13 stripes and what a colony was.  After painting let the shirt dry for an hour  or so.  You can also use a hair dryer to speed up the drying process.

Step 3: Add stickers

Peel off the tape on the right side of where the blue square will be and move it over an inch so it is on the red paint.  Next, add star stickers to the square, being sure that they are firmly attached.  I didn’t have enough room or stars to give each shirt 50, but we did fill the squares.

Step 4: Paint blue square

Use a paintbrush to spread the blue paint all over the square.  I started in the center of each star and brushed outward, then filled in between the stars.

Step 5: Peel off tape

Let the blue paint dry (or use a hair dryer) and then carefully peel off the tape and stickers.

Enjoy your new patriotic shirt(s)!