DIY and Tutorial: Updating and Refreshing your Graphic Tees
Anything that lasts longer than two or more full seasons in the fashion world becomes a fashion staple. Graphic tees have been at forefront of fashion for such a while, now, that even high-end brands have jumped into the fray. Shirts may vary with messages of advice, identity or simply to display the name of a brand. They can be dressed up under a blazer or dressed down with a pair of cut-offs. It took me a while to get on the graphic-tee bandwagon and although I enjoy a cheeky message on a tee from time to time, I saw them as weekend items to clean the house in. For the record, my first graphic tee was "Frankie Says Relax" which was all the rage back in the 80's. When Frankie and his song relaxed into obscurity, so did my affair with graphic tees.
It wasn’t until about four years ago that I was inspired by a fashion and YouTube blogger known as WendysLookbook.com that I discovered a more than super-casual use for graphic tees. Of course, since I’m out of my twenties, there are some tees that no longer make the cut, but this fashion channel started my wheels turning on how to make the look more “adult”. Wearing the shirts under a jacket or with a serious item like a pair of work pants or a work skirt really matures the look, all-the-while maintaining a casual and playful vibe.
Now, it’s not easy to find graphic tees to fit the “thirty and over” market, but there are times when a quick DIY can take a basic or juvenile looking graphic tee up a notch into adultville. Also, I found the best way to preserve text or graphics from fading is to trace and/or color over the text and/or graphics using fabric paint, which you can pick up at any craft store for less than $5. Not all graphic tees, regardless of quality, can survive repeated washings before the color begins to fade or the black turns a bit gray. The best way to keep things vibrant, bold AND add a bit of interesting texture is to use a 3D embossed fabric paint or a fabric paint with a bit of sparkle.
Below, I'm going to show you 4 shirts I've altered within the past year or so, as well as a before and after D.I.Y. tutorial video.
First, let me start with the Love tee.
I purchased this cute Love tee from Shein $7.00, for Valentine’s Day, but when it arrived the graphic was a little too flat and ho-hum for my taste. I had taken a “before” photo with my phone but lost it when my phone reset (hadn’t backed up data), so I only have the “after” shots.
You can see how the shiny, almost leather-looking, embossed text gives the shirt a bit of life you wouldn’t normally get with your typical screen print design. If you have a flair for drawing, you can also add more to the original graphic for a personalized look.
For this shirt, it took less than 10 minutes to trace the text and color in the heart. The drying process, however, is about 18 - 24 hours. More detailed designs might prove to be more challenging and time consuming, so bring your patience and an eagle eye.
Next up, the Eyelash Tee!
You've probably seen this shirt all over Instagram in the past couple of years, or so. It's fun and feels very fashionable, but it, too, suffers from the basic flat appearance of a screen tee when you see it up close. Since the lips were pretty bright and bold, I focused my attention on the eyelashes. With most screen tees, black has a tendency to fade or lose its luster. Going over the design with an embossed fabric paint allows the text and design to pop and look perpetually new and shiny.
Close-up view of finished paint job below:
The Eyelash Tee is available on Shein.com for $9.00. This probably took less than 10 minutes to trace, as well.
My third altered graphic tee (one of my first attempts and not really my best) includes the Sun and Moon tee from website bessky_store for $8.
"Before" photo, below, from website:
When I saw this on Ebay I fell in love with the design as well as the message. It arrived just as vibrant as it looks in the photo, but after the 4th or 5th washing, the black ink appeared a bit lackluster. It was this tee shirt that initiated my practice of using fabric paint to dull areas of my graphic tees with fabric paint. As you can see, there's lots of detail in the artwork. It would've taken me a few months or a year to trace everything, so I only settled my focus on a few areas as focal points. My text-tracing skills weren't the best, but I got a lot of practice here learning to steady my hand.
The "after" shots:
The fourth and final graphic tee I want to feature is the Perfume bottle tee. It's also fun, fashionable and looks great under a blazer. In my photo, below, this is one my semi-casual looks. My apologies, but I've had the shirt for about three years and can no longer find it on Ebay where I purchased it for less than $10.
I love this shirt and have tried other ways to preserve the design. If you look closely at the pic above, you can see a little glitter in the black areas from where I tried to fill in the fading design with black glitter. It looked great for a while, but the glitter paint washed off in spots. The embossed 3D paint is my final chance to refreshing the design.
The oufit below are my "after" photos. The black areas are so vivid and fresh, now. I'm happy with the result.
Click on the DIY tutorial, below, to see me update and paint my favorite graphic tee.
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Credits:
Pleated cropped trousers, Dd's Discount Stores, $5.99 (no link available)
Jaclyn Smith Faux alligator loafer mules, Kmart $9.99 (no longer available)