Pirate Apparel: Flag Stenciled T-shirts

Earlier this August, my family came together to mourn/celebrate Black Tot Day. If you're in the same position I was a year ago, you have no idea what this is. No worry. This will all be explained. A little back story first- last summer my family, as well as my uncle and his family, spent a week in Bermuda. Under the influence of island history (a la the Royal Navy Dockyard) and many a Dark and Stormy it was decided that in 2012 we would have a party for Black Tot Day. Essentially, after centuries of various forms of alcoholic rations, it was decided that July 31, 1970 would be that last day that the Royal Navy would issue rum rations. To mourn this event, sailors wore black arm bands, buried tots (small amounts of liquor) at sea, and held mock funerals. It became our duty to continue this tradition, but with a stronger emphasis on the party aspect.

As for what we were all to wear- that was much broader than traditional Royal Navy sailor garb. Pirates and beach bums were welcome as well. So, I decided to make t-shirts for my sister and me featuring famous pirate flags. Sister got the Jolly Roger and I sported Blackbeard's flag. In order to make these, I created stencils from printer paper. I have to ability to create silk screens and multi-use stencils, but because I intended to use each design only once, I went with the disposable paper stencil. But first, I had to sketch them out.

Menacing, aren't they?

The Jolly Roger was easy enough, but Blackbeard's design gave me some trouble. The big thing to remember here is to save those little bits (the negative space, as it is) from inside the design. To affix the stencil to the shirt I used CCI Mist Adhesive, which I highly recommend. I've used this for years in my silk screening and it's fantastic: it's no drip and strong enough to stick to your projects but doesn't leave any residue.

 I actually save everything I cut out so I can make sure those bone highlights, nose, and eyes make it to the right place.

This design is solely bone, so I used a 50/50 mixture of Tulip's soft fabric paints (matte) in the colors Linen and Glacier White. The Blackbeard design had the same off white mixture  along with Crimson Red mixed with a touch of Ebony, both Tulip paints with a matte finish.

The Pirate Sisters

 To Queen Elizabeth II, a willing soul, and a sea room!

Music to craft to- Traditional – Sea Shanties: Rousing Songs from the Age of Sail

Beachcomber Craft: The Driftwood Wreath

A little while ago I was at a cousin's cottage on the Potomac River. After the crabs were devoured my mom found a small wreath made with driftwood- a gift from the the neighbor- and decided, without hesitation, that we needed to make our own.

The Potomac doesn't quite offer the variety that an ocean beach does, but we made off with a pretty good collection of driftwood, sea glass and brick, shells, shark teeth, and fossils I've always called "curlicues" because I have no idea what they actually are. They're pictured in the second detail shot, so if you know, send the information my way! Luckily, we ran into the artist who inspired us, and she helped us beach comb, gave us a few tips, and even showed us her own collection.

Everything I wanted on my wreath was assembled and attached to a wooden wreath form. The driftwood could be glued down with hot glue (and a few twists of thin wire for the less stable pieces) but the other items required floral glue. You may be surprised by this, because I certainly was, but when I tried using super glue, the shell and wood started smoking. So... I stuck with the floral glue.

 Music to craft to- Surf Playlist

Let's get her started... Easy Batik

A few weeks ago I worked a mixed media Summer camp for kids between the ages of 7 and... a freshman in high school. That's an amazing age gap so finding art activities for them to do during the week without it being too difficult or too easy was a slight challenge. Luckily, I stumbled across this glue batik tutorial. The crafty lady did this activity with her kids and it ended up being a success with my campers, too.
The thing is, both her kids and mine did fairly simple designs.
I appreciate simplicity. Really, I do. But I also happen to be a glutton for punishment, so I decided to go with some more complex designs for my own, uh, kicks and giggles. That, and I needed an example as well as an idea of how the teach it.

So here's the break down on how to do glue batik (non-toxic/non-flammable):
I decided to try the tree of life first, so I sketched the outlines on a large piece of paper and then went over it with black marker. This was a case of it looking easier than it was...

 I purchased a pack of 6 handkerchiefs from Target for about $5ish. One of those ended up taped down on top of my sketch. I happen to have a large drafting clipboard to work on, but wherever you end up, make sure there's plenty of space and time- you'll need to leave it alone for a while.

One of the things emphasized in the original tutorial is that this needs to be done with gel glue- NOT white glue. I didn't catch that until after I had tried another design (which I'll compare to gel glue down below). Now, this is back-to-school season, so getting glue isn't a problem. If you're looking for white glue. Gel glue, on the other hand, it a totally different story. Between Target and Wal-mart the only thing I could find with a gel base was glitter glue. So, there it is. My glitter glue tree of life.

 This can be painted in with a brush, but I used it straight from the bottle. Remember that any areas covered with glue stay white, so plan accordingly. I wanted the tree colorful, so glue went to the negative space. And by the way, when you later peel it up to prep for paint, paper will stick. Not a problem. It will come off in the rinse and won't affect the design.

Leave the glue alone for a while. I needs to set so it's not too tacky (as I'm convinced glitter glue never actually dries). When you're ready to go on, mix acrylic paints with water. There's no science to this, but I ended up with a squirt of color and about 1/2 of a cup water. Using a brush, I dabbed and painted the colors. Remember, the if you paint near another wet color, they'll bleed together.

Luckily, I like that look.

 After the paint was completely dry, I threw the handkerchief in a bucket of water and forgot it for a little while. About an hour later, the glue was loose enough for me to scrub it off by rubbing the fabric against itself. If you try doing this with glitter glue, I can say with certainty that it needs to be cleaned under running water, because that glitter is stubborn as hell. There may be a few flecks of glitter left on these, but the most important thing it to get the glue out.

 And there you have it.

 Here's the comparison of a design done with white glue and one with gel. Both handkerchiefs feature the same peacock design, but the one on the left was done with white glue. It ran together and diminished the design I had created. While it was easier to clean up than glitter, it didn't look as clean.

This was a nice, easy alternative the the traditional melted wax technique used for Batik and great for kids to do. I may try this again in the future for pillows and try dye instead of watered down acrylic.

Note to self: work on those photography skills. Yikes.

Music to craft to-  Minus The Bear – OMNI