Hand Painting on Clothes: 3 Unique Ideas

Tools and materials:

• Paper
• Pencil
• Pen
• Fabric paint
• Paintbrushes
• Chalk
• Bleach
• Stencils

Shirt

I’m starting off with a shirt which is really two different shirts sewn together.

I want to make the two different sides of the shirt even more pronounced than they already are, so I’m going to customize just one side of the shirt.

I’m going to create a design inspired by newspaper collages because this shirt gives me newspaper vibes, I don’t know why.

I’m going to paint two faces black and white, and on top of them, I’m going to write different quotes using newspaper font so that the portraits will look like some pieces of newspaper attached to the shirt.

1. Sketch design onto shirt

Start by sketching your design on paper with a pencil. Then place the paper on top of your shirt where you want the design to be and go over it with a pen.

You want to press down on the pen quite hard so that the design goes through the paper and onto the shirt.

2. Go over design

Go over the design with a pen to fill in any gaps.

3. Paint the images

Paint over the portraits with black fabric paint. 

4. Paint the background

Proceed to create a background for the newspaper quotes.

My customization is going to be mostly black and white, but I decided to add a bit of color to the background to make the quotes pop.

5. Write the quotes

Now I'm writing quotes with a brush and fabric paint in a newspaper-style font. Use a small brush for this to get it really precise.

6. Design the sleeve

I decided to create a design on the sleeve as well. I painted a black rose with a pop of red color. Then I added one more quote.

Skirt

Next up, I’m customizing a shirt which is a long pleated skirt and a mini skirt sewn together.

I decided to create a design based on the TV series Euphoria because I think that this skirt is perfect for Euphoria school. I think that Maddy from the series would definitely love to wear such a skirt.

1. Sketch the design

First, draw on a trippy, melting, abstract pattern with chalk.

2. Paint the skirt

Proceed to paint over the design with white paint.

3. Add color and texture

Add some color to the design, and then add some texture by going over parts of the swirly design with 3D paint.

4. Write words

Finish up the design by writing a couple of things.

Jeans

Next up, I have a pair of jeans that are bleached down one side, and the other side is plain.

I’m going to add bleach to the plain side by painting on three eyes and then making an abstract background.

1. Paint on design

Dip your paintbrush in bleach and then paint on the eye design.

I also did some sweeping strokes and splattered some bleach to make the design less neat.

2. Write on words

I decided to write a couple of things on the jeans using some letter stencils that are perfect for creating grunge-style customization. I wrote, ‘art has no rules.’

Here are how the finished pieces turned out:

Hand painting on clothes

I hope you got a couple of ideas on how you can customize your clothes. There are so many different ways to do so.

Let me know which customized piece you like the best in the comments below.

Also, check out my tutorial on How to DIY an Awesome Bleach Jacket.