DIY: Galaxy t-shirt

After encountering galaxy printed stuff (that is, leggings, jackets, skirts, t-shirts, phone cases, sweaters...) about everywhere, I decided to create a galaxymized item myself. I bought a cheapass t-shirt at H&M, scrolled the Internet for some inspiration/information, bought additional supplies and got started! I did not want to have a galaxy print all over my shirt, so I decided to print/paint a galaxy cross on it (because crosses too are ubiquitous in fashion these days). Now, let me tell you the dos and don'ts for a galaxy printed cross t-shirt.

Do buy supplies: a black piece of clothing (a t-shirt in my case), a bottle of bleach, a spraying bottle (to spray the bleach), masking tape, old newspapers, gloves, acrylic paint (I used pink, blue, white, yellow, but other colours are of course also possible), and a paint brush or a sponge.

Do wear protection: No, I am not promoting some kind of contraception, but DIYing with bleach is quite a challenge if you're a bit chaotic and clumsy like me. So, wear old clothes and plastic gloves. The newspapers are also part of this protective facility.

Do follow these steps:


1. Mark the figure of your choice with masking tape. Make sure the lines are straight and the T-shirt is flat on the table ot gloot. Not an easy task, but I thought I succeeded.

2. Place newspapers all around the cross on the remaining shirt. Attach these newspapers to the shirt with making tape. This last step is necessary to preclude the bleach from dripping.

3. Bleaching time, bitch! Pour some bleach in the spraying bottle (remember the gloves and the old clothes).

4. Spray it. You'll see the bleach turning your T-shirt a bloody red. (Sounds creepy or am I watching Dexter too much?)

5. Remove all the newspaper and toss that T-shirt in the laundry machine. This is necessary to stop the bleach from reacting.

6. When the T-shirt is all dry again, repeat step 1 and 3.

7.  Mix the different acrylic paints to get the right colours. I made purple, powder pink and baby blue.

8. Paint a beautiful galaxy landscape with a sponge or a paint brush. I started with the lighter colours and then added the darker colours. Next, add white dots that represent the stars.

9. After the paint dried, set the print by ironing on it. Don't forget to place another piece of fabric between the shirt and the iron, as the paint might still come off.

10. TADAAA! Your galaxy t-shirt!

Now, I let you in on a lot of dos, but in hindsight there are also a lot of don'ts which I wished I knew upfront.

Don't think your lines are completely straight too fast: I was pretty damn sure that they were in fact straight, but my cross is a bit/a whole lotta crooked, booh!

Don't use too much bleach: When it was time to apply the bleach, I took a deep breath and sprayed that sucker down. However, it's not like firming your hair with hairspray (in my case, loads of hairspray), so don't overdo it. Just spray a tiny bit, and after the bleach starts reacting, you can see whether it's necessary to use more. I used too much, booh!

Don't use too much paint: I naturally did, and the paint really was too tick on the shirt. Consequentially, a lot of the paint already washed away leaving my t-shirt as such, booh!

To conclude, I think this is a pretty cool DIY, but my first attempt failed or at least I'm not entirely satisfied with it. I'm thinking about trying it again, but now keeping those don'ts pretty good in mind. And you guys can just learn from my mistakes, so everybody happy, right?!