Introduction: A Cool Way to Decorate Your Old Duds With Bleach
Do you have an old shirt or pair of jeans that need a little help? Pretty them up the easy way with a good old bleach pen! No need to mix dye powder or make a big mess in your kitchen. All you need is a Bleach Pen. Works great for getting stains out of whites, too.
Also see: Reverse Tie Dyeing with Bleach
Lots of Tie Dyeing Tutorials
Step 1: Supplies:
-Old Jeans, shorts, t-shirts (mostly cotton)
-Bleach Pen
-Plastic or cardboard
-Pencil (optional)
-Stencil (optional)
-Bleach & Spray Bottle(optional)
Note: For all of these pieces, place a sheet of plastic or cardboard inside to prevent the bleach from bleeding through to the other side.
Step 2: Red Shorts:
I wanted to put a couple of simple designs on the front of these red shorts. For inspiration and design, I dug out one of our beach towels which has flowers and dragon flies on it. You may want to practice your drawing on a piece of paper first. Also, it’s a good idea to draw with the bleach pen on scrap fabric to get a feel for the flow of the bleach gel.
First, with my pencil, I drew the outline of a flower on one side of the shorts. When I was happy with it, I followed the line with the bleach pen.
Let it sit for 15 minutes or so. It’s hard to say exactly how long as that varies depending on the type of fabric.
Repeat with the other design:
Thoroughly, rinse off the bleach and wash with detergent. If the design is not light enough for you, you can repeat the process after the shorts or shirt dries.
Step 3: Jeans:
I wanted swirls and loops along the side of the legs so I used a template (pink heart shape) that I found at Dollar Tree. Simply follow the lines you want with the bleach pen. Super easy!
Again, let set for a while, then rinse, wash and dry.
Step 4: Red Shirt:
Same process as the jeans. I used part of the heart stencil. This was an older shirt and it did not bleach as strongly as the other pieces.
Step 5: Black T-Shirt:
Yes, it’s actually black. My camera is a bit colorblind.This one is a little different. I picked heart shaped leaves and laid them out on the shirt. Then, I sprayed around the leaves with a solution of 1 part liquid bleach to 3 parts water. Let it sit, then washed and dried. To define the hearts a little better, I added heart shapes with the bleach pen.
That’s all there’s to it! Super easy and you can use any shape, stencil, or freehand design you want! Makes a great unique gift, as well. Customize the design for your favorite horse lover, musician or even knitter. The possibilities are truly endless!
Enjoy!
Annette
FiberArtsy.com
