Hand Illustrated Clothing

Customizing clothing is a great way to give a simple item in your closet a brand-new life. It can feel like all the clothing looks the same when you are shopping online or walking through the mall, so personalizing your items at home is a great way to make your wardrobe unique. Even The New York Times is talking about it! 

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One of the simplest ways to customize clothing is to draw. You can purchase a pack of fabric markers (typically around $10), but permanent markers like Sharpies work as well. You can also paint on clothing with fabric paint. Sets of fabric paint are around $20, but if you have acrylic paint lying around, that will work too. 

Now, you may be tempted to start drawing or painting on your clothing item immediately, but there are a couple of things you should do first. Most markers or paints that will stain fabric are strong enough to bleed through the fabric you are working with, so it is important to put a thick piece of paper or cardboard between the front and back of the clothing item you are drawing on. This will prevent the design on the front of your item from bleeding onto the back of the item. 

Depending on what design you are creating and how confident you are in your artistic skills, you may also want to sketch out a design with a pencil first before going in with your fabric marker or paint. Drawing and painting on fabric feels different than working with a piece of paper or a canvas, so you may want to make a game plan before beginning to work on the actual clothing item. 

For more details instructions on drawing on fabric, check out Instructables.com. And if you want to learn more about painting on fabric, this guide on SkillShare can show you the ropes.

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Drawing and painting on clothing items probably gives artists the most freedom in what they can put on their clothes, but embroidery is another fun way to add color and design to an item. 

With a simple set of tools – just a needle and some colorful thread, you can begin to do embroidery. Some of the simplest stitches are the running and back stitches. This guide from Cutesy Crafts introduces readers to 30 hand embroidery stitches and provides tutorials on how to do them. 

Once you know the basics of embroidery, you can begin putting little shapes and flowers on your clothes. You can also add some color to a hemline with a simple line of stitches. Or, you can make your own personalized clothing by stitching your name or initials into your clothing.  

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If you are really fed up with an item of clothing and want to give it a completely new life, you can also take a pair of scissors to it! This can be something as simple as cutting a few inches off the bottom of a shirt to change the length, or cutting the sleeves off a t-shirt to make a muscle tee. 

You can also refresh a stained white shirt by dying it a new color with Rit Dye, or tie-dyeing it to make a completely new pattern. 

Ultimately, you have the freedom to do anything you want with your clothes. You can even make a whole new wardrobe if you want! Just start playing