Recycling waste items and encouraging the usage of green craft materials are being promoted everywhere, this can help in driving teens attention towards eco-consciousness. Converting an old T-shirt into an exciting graphic tee can be fun as well as an interesting eco-craft. One can experiment with his own drawing skills or promote an artist friend in the process. Apart from the drawing, which can be a little tricky for not-so-skillful sketchers, the remaining project is easily achievable, provided you have all the required materials at your finger tips. Also, these fun craft sessions can help in ascertaining their hidden talent and bringing it to the limelight.
Difficulty level
Moderate
Time required
The entire procedure would take a maximum of 4 hours.
Resources
The articles required for this craft activity are:
1. An image to be used on the T-shirt as the design, some ink for the print-out of the same may be required to size the image as per the requirement.
2. A pair of scissors to cut out the image.
3. A heat press or an iron to transfer the image onto the T-shirt.
Instructions to make the T-shirt
1. The first step is the preparation for the craft activity which involves accumulating the required articles namely heat transfer papers, an iron, a pair of scissors and a printer.
2. Next is to choose the image of your choice for re-designing your old T-shirt. While doing so, one should be careful not to pick up a patented or copyright image. This might land you in trouble. The best option is to design one on your own by letting the artist in you show off its talent or you may even opt to promote the good work of one of your friends. Once the image has been selected, re-size it according to the desired dimensions which would fall fit on the garment.
3. After having re-sized the image, you have to take out the print out of the same using an inkjet printer. However, to further promote your green revolutionary act, you can even opt to use Post Consumer Recycled Paper. These are extracted from those materials which were supposed to be dumped off. You can look for the PCR and PCW mark on it to make sure your effort seems more fruitful for the environment than the normal recycled paper which is anyways recycled in order to cut down on production cost.
4. Once the image has been printed, with the help of a pair of scissors, carve out and cut the image as you want it on the front of your T-shirt.
5. Once the image has been cut, with the help of transfer papers and using a heat press or an iron, press the image on to the T-shirt for the design to get imprinted on it.
6.This completes your art work with a brand new T-shirt in front of your eyes, designed and conceived solely by you. However, use of craigslist and soybean inks can promote your creation further and take a step ahead in your attempt to undergo a green project.
Quick tips
1. An old T-shirt having a sentimental value attached to it can be reformed in this way like a school house team T-shirt with the team logo on it, which you might not be able to use otherwise can now turn into something really cherish-able and wearable as well.
2. These days, Forever-21 is stacked with T-shirts of cartoon prints on them. Instead of buying them from there, you can easily create one on your own by simply turning an old one into a new reformed piece.
3. Involving in green crafts by recycling old worn-out garments, using Post Consumer Recycled Paper, opting for soy-based inks for the printer and using craigslist to further promote your activity, can make a simple home craft activity a revolutionary one with many people joining in to show their concern towards nature and doing their bit to protect and save environment.
