Picture tutorial on Decolourant plus T-shirt sponge prints – Pudsey Bear

As it’s Children in need day tomorrow I thought I’d show you how I created a print onto a child’s t-shirt for ‘show your spots day’ at my sons school to raise money.

You can apply this technique to any design of course. This tutorial will be useful to you if you’ve had trouble getting fabric pens or paint to apply neatly and without the t-shirt fabric moving around on you! I’ve included some step-by-step pictures to help.

Materials needed

• A design you wish to apply to the T-shirt printed onto copy paper (Design used in this project is a free colouring page here)
• Large piece of card (Large cereal box will do)
• Repositional spray adhesive
• Fabric Pens (I used Dylon Broad Nib in Black)
• Fabric Paint/Dye ink (I used decolourant plus)
• Iron
• Hairdryer (if you don’t want to wait for it to dry)
• T-shirt (I used plain white but use any colour suitable for your paint and pens)
• Circle foam sponge

Step 1

Spray repositional adhesive to both sides of card and design paper. Position both of these in between the layers of your t-shirt so you can see the design clearly. This may be more difficult with darker fabrics. Smooth out as pictured on both sides of the shirt. Take time to make sure all parts of your design are stuck to the shirt. As this is key to getting a neat finish.

Step 2

Use your fabric pens to complete the design.

Step 3

Once you’ve finished tracing your design. Double check you haven’t missed any areas.

Step 4

To fix the design follow the steps given to you on your chosen pen. For mine I simply had to iron to fix the design. Leave the cardboard in place to stop bleed-through of the paint

Sponge shape cut out from leftover foam from a chair seat project.

Step 5

To achieve this particular design, use a round ended sponge. You can cut one out of dense foam. Dab the sponge shape into the paint a few times to get an even coverage. Don’t over load as this with cause the bleeding of the shape. As this is a circle I was able to a give slight twist to the application and it gave me a nice smooth finish to the edge. You may want to practice this on some spare, similar type fabric first.
Apply one colour at a time front and back, using the hairdryer to dry out each set of spots before turning your t-shirt over. You’ll know when Decolourant is dry as it goes slightly rough like paint texture. (Note: once washed, the texture will be washed out and will be left with a non textured, dyed finish, unlike a typical fabric paint)

Step 6

Decolourant plus requires ironing to fix the dye/paint. Wash your clothing according to guidelines on the clothing and for the paint used.

WahLaa! Your finished, it really didn’t take that long huh?!

Use these t-shirts to help raise money for Children in need.

I hope you found this useful, Thanks for checking out my blog.

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Mother Bear Project – Knitted Bear – Charity

On its way!

yippee.. one down!

I finally got around to finishing this bear. I’m super happy with it, and glad it has been posted out today. My son adored it and tried to cuddle it while I was still knitting! That just made me think of how I just had to get it finished in time for this weekends post. So it can be safely delivered into a child’s arms.

This is the first ‘Mother Bear Project’ Bear I’ve completed, but it’s not the last. I will knit a ‘boy’ bear next, I think. Any suggestions on the outfit would be fab!

Knitting for Charity – Squares for Children’s Blankets and Other Little Projects

Want to Knit-a-square?

Use up Odd Balls of Yarn

I stumbled across this organization Knit-a-square. With our help they provide warm blankets and clothing for sick children in South Africa.

There are lots of patterns to choose from too, such as hats, vests, jumpers and pull overs. If you are very creative you can share your own pattern too.

You don’t need to know how to knit to contribute to this project. If you have any old wool clothing or find any in the charity shops, you can felt them and cut the 8×8″ squares out of the felted fabric. Just by washing and using a dryer you can felt a knitted garment. This mats the fibres so when you cut the fabric it won’t fray or unravel.

It doesn’t matter what type of yarn you have. But take a look at their advice on what to use if you want to contribute to a heart warming cause.

Let me know if you have contributed already. If you have any pictures to share of your donations I would be happy to add them to this blog post!

Happy Knitting.

Angel Bear – Knit bears for UK Children – Charity

‘…because we care’

http://www.angelbear.org.uk/

Unfortunately, it appears this charity no longer exists. Please check official sources before thinking of contributing.
Angelbear is a non-profit organisation which is the notion that all children in a vulnerable position should own a teddy bear.

The lovely lady who runs this heart-felt project is very helpful when you ask about the bear and it’s pattern. If you need any help, she has a tutorial page that shows you all the basic stitches you need to complete the bear. But rest assured this is a suitable pattern for a beginner and knits up pretty quick.

I felt that I MUST make a teddy bear to contribute to this goal. She’s provides a pattern in which each bear should be based on. But if you have the ability you can change the pattern textures to any you like. This sort of thing really appeals to me so I took it upon myself to create a teddy bear with lots of pattern and texture. I wrote this pattern down. You can find it here. Feel free to use this pattern for non-profit and is suitable for this project too.

Visit the Angelbear website for more information on how to get involved.

All you need is some double knitting yarn in a couple of colours where possible and a pair of 4mm needles, a darning needle and polyester toy stuffing. Non of these items are all that expensive and most crafters will have most if not all of these items already. Just make sure they are new or freshly laundered

An ideal way to use up any leftover yarns you have and put a smile on a child’s face, which is worth more than anything!

My bear is already in the post. I urge you to get knitting too.

Mother Bear Project – Knit a Bear for Charity

‘Make a bear. Make a difference’

Mother Bear Project

The Mother Bear Project is a non-profit organisation intent on bringing hope and comfort to children, primarily affected by HIV/Aids all over the world. Many will be orphans. These children will be in need of love and comfort and will receive a hand knitted or crocheted bear. Click here to see pictures.

This simple act of giving a teddy bear to a child who has nothing else in the world is truly heart-warming and sends them a message that they are cared for, and that they do matter. I have recently requested a pattern from this wonderful project and can’t wait to start. I urge you to do the same. Please visit the website for more details.

All bears are created from the same pattern. Each pattern you order includes a tag for you to sign and attach to your bear before sending. Once they receive your bear they will sew on a red felt heart before shipping it out to a needy child.

I’ll be posting my contribution as soon as it is made so please subscribe to this blog to receive updates!

Even if you can’t knit or crochet. You can give by sending supplies or donating time or money to this organisation.

To date, 49,650 bears have been sent to children affected by HIV/AIDS through their help!