This is the part where we bust out the puff paint! Oh my, this project gave me major 90s flashbacks to the days when we all made those tacky sweatshirts with the homemade, iron-on appliques traced around with puff paint. Do you remember those? Ah, the memories.
But this is going to be totally cool. And not tacky…I hope! So, remember how I found that prom dress and that embroidered boho shirt at Goodwill for Emma’s Elsa costume in Part 1? Well, I thought the shirt could use some additional sparkle and Elsa details.
I turned to our book collection for pictorial inspiration and found our Frozen (Little Golden Book). It was easier to have physical images to look at instead of having to continually refer to my phone for pictures of Elsa.
Next, I gathered supplies! First of all, I got the puff paint for this project at JOANN Fabric and Craft.
Then, I assembled everything else. I knew that I needed to stuff the sleeves with something firm while I painted on a design. So, I used a Tailor’s Seam Roll for one sleeve and a water bottle of a similar size for the other sleeve. I popped plastic bags over each and secured them with rubber bands. This would prevent the shirt from sticking to these forms in case any paint soaked through.
Before placing the forms inside the sleeves, I first marked the center line down the top of each one with my Dritz See-Thru Dressmaker’s Ruler and my favorite, purple Dritz Disappearing Ink Marking Pen. Yes, I pretty much use this handy little pen in every project! *Disclaimer* I am an Amazon Associate. Any purchases made through my affiliate links gives me a small commission. I am careful to only promote products that I personally use and enjoy!
I slid my forms into the sleeves after I made the sleeve center lines.
I wanted to make a pointed design on the bicep of each sleeve. So, I measured 3 1/2 inches down the center line of each sleeve, from the shoulder seam, and made a mark. Then, I measured down 3 1/2 inches down the side of each armhole and made marks at those points. I joined the armhole marks to the center mark by drawing connecting lines along my measuring tape.
Finally time to paint! I decided to do little dots of paint instead of a solid line. The sleeve material is crinkly and stretchy, and I thought trying to do a solid line might interfere with the flexibility of the fabric and might not look like a clean line, depending on how the fabric lay on the arm.
I propped up the sleeves on a copy box lid and weighted the ends with button jars. Then, I proceeded to experiment with where I wanted to place two snowflake designs on each of the sleeves. I made the upper one slightly larger than the lower one.
Next, I traced over the embroidery at the hem of each sleeve with dots of glitter paint. I did the top halves of the cuffs, first.
After letting the sleeves sit for an hour or two, I gently turned over the ends of the sleeves and painted the embroidery on the underneath portions of the cuffs.
Then, I also painted the embroidery on the front of the neckline and extended it across the back once the front had dried. I placed a plastic shopping bag inside the shirt to make sure the front and back didn’t stick together with paint!
Ta-da! Here’s a look at the finished shirt. It’s also a sneak-peek of the Lake Wenatchee photo shoot I did with our girls, this past weekend. More photos to come!
