This weekend, I saw this great idea for a race track shirt and realized we had all of the supplies needed to make it. The boys were super excited for Elias to try it, and I wanted to share it on the blog so we went ahead and gave it to him a little early. This project is SO easy, inexpensive, and lots of fun. The boys had a great time testing it out on Elias, and he seemed to enjoy the little back massage from mini cars rolling all around!
Here’s how I made ours:
Materials
- Fabric markers – Whatever you have will do. If you need to buy some, they’re good for a lot of other things besides this. We use them to mark clothes, make costumes, etc. THESE are the ones we have, and the brush tip works really well. You could also paint this, and make it look even more awesome.
- Plain white shirt – Again, whatever you have. If you get brand new ones, I would wash and dry first, though I don’t know if that’s a requirement. In our case, we just pulled out an undershirt from the drawer. Don’t go expensive or fancy here, the thin undershirt type works great because you can see through to the template.
- Template – I used the template from THIS TUTORIAL which prints out on four pieces of paper, taped together
- Piece of cardboard large enough for template
- Tape
Procedure
- 1. Print out the template and tape together. As you can see, I did not take the time to perfectly align the edges, and it was fine.
- 2. Tape the template to cardboard. I used a flat rate priority mail box.
- 3. Slide the cardboard between the front and back of the shirt so the template shows through. Note: As you can see from the photos, the road “bunches up” around Elias’s shoulders. If I were going to do it again, I wouldn’t have the image go up so high in the shoulder.
- 4. Trace with fabric markers and paint if desired. We may work on this some more and color in the houses and add other details, or we may just leave it alone!
- 5. Give to Dad and enjoy!
I love this as a homemade gift option. It’s not hard at all, and a great thing for children to be excited about sharing with their dad. Enjoy!
Original source: http://thebluebasket.blogspot.com/2011/09/tutorial-car-shirt.html
For many more simple and easy ways for family and children to create meaning together, see my book Faithful Families: Creating Sacred Moments at Home