Time to get out your red, white and blue. 4th of July is nearly here! Though it’s not technically a dress-up day, we are huge fans of costumes (have you seen our Halloween posts?!) and think it’s only right to wear an Independence Day outfit. To get you started, we’ve got a bleach-stamped tank with a red and white striped pocket. And get this — it only takes 10 minutes to DIY! Save your precious time for making a 4th of July bathing suit or some stars and stripes treats.
Materials:
– blue tank top
– red and white striped fabric
– Scotch™ Essentials Permanent Hem Bonding Strips
– wooden block
– 3 foam sheets
– sponge
– bleach
– cardboard
Tools:
– scissors
– fabric scissors
– bowl
– pen
– hot glue gun
Instructions:
To make a stamp, we used a few layers of foam sheets. Draw a star on one sheet, stack them and then cut out three stars. Glue them together and then adhere them to your wooden block. Now you know how to make a customized stamp :)
- Draw a star on your foam sheet. Stack three sheets and cut out your star. You will end up with three stars. Glue them together to create one thick star.
- Glue your star to the wooden block to make a stamp.
- Pour bleach into your bowl and then press your sponge into the bleach to saturate it. Flip it over if the bleach doesn’t soak all the way through. This will serve as your “stamp pad.”
- Place the cardboard in your tank.
- Add bleach to the stamp by pressing it on down on the sponge. Then stamp your shirt, filling it with stars. Be aware that it will take a few minutes for the stars to show up.
- Cut out a rectangle of fabric slightly larger than the size of your pocket to account for the hem.
- Trim permanent hem bonding strips to line three edges of the pocket. Fold over the edges to make a hem. Then add a second set of bonding strips to the hem and press it to your shirt.
Next we need a stamp pad. To create a bleach stamp pad, pour bleach into a small bowl and add a sponge. Our sponge was really thick, so the bleach didn’t soak all the way through. Rather than adding more bleach, we flipped the sponge over and it worked like a charm.
Place a piece of cardboard inside of your tank so that the bleach doesn’t bleed through. Press your stamp down on the “stamp pad” and then add a star to your shirt. Push firmly and don’t move the stamp around. Also be careful not to drip bleach on the shirt. It’ll leave spots. Continue adding stars to your tank until you’ve added as many as you like. Give them a few minutes to magically appear. So cool, right?
Scotch® Brand
Then fold the fabric over to create a hem. Adhere a second set of bonding strips to the hemmed edges and then press the pocket firmly onto the tank top. Don’t worry about laundering your new shirt. You can put it through the wash and the pocket won’t fall off! The bonding strips are that strong.
That’s all there is to it!
Pair this tank with white jean shorts and a cute pair of red sandals.
And if you’re cool like Maddie, get yourself a pair of flag sunnies and pop on some red lipstick. She’s 4th of July ready!
