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Blast Off!
Lately, my older son has developed an interest in rockets, spaceships, the moon, and the like. We’re watching Tomorrowland videos from before the space race and the much more recent shuttle launches. We’re also reading a great pop-up book on the 1969 Moon landing, another book called Look to the Stars by Buzz Aldrin, and There’s No Place Like Space from the Cat in the Hat learning library. Out of all of this, he now has two rocket shirts. For both I used Tsukineko inks. These are really great inks for decorating on fabric. They don’t change the hand or surface quality of the fabric. They are also permanent once heat-set so you can keep working with them until then. Great for watercolor-like effects. The set I purchased came with a collection of inks and these tools they call Fanstasticks. They are basically marker blanks that you can tip into the inks and then draw on the fabric. A little bit goes a long way. You can also dip the sticks in water (this can also rejuvenate the ink already on the stick) to dilute the inks for blending or lighter colors. Setting the inks simply involves ironing over the completed design. It’s a great product, I can’t wait for the next project to try them on.
Anyway, here are the completed shirts:
Redstone Mercury Rocket shirt
Redstone Mercury Rocket shirt, back view showing the Mercury capsule
Space Shuttle Atlantis shirt
The designs were traced from suitable photos. The Mercury capsule was the hardest to find a suitable picture. I transferred the tracings to the fabric by tracing with pencil, using a lightbox. Finally, I used the inks to color in the pictures. I wanted to keep the design simple, to highlight the shapes and designs of the rockets themselves. I am really happy with how these turned out. The best part of this project was that these two shirts are my son’s favorite clothes to wear. It’s great when you know your work is truly appreciated. :)
tagged: atlantis, clothing design, Illustration, mercury, mercury capsule, redstone, rockets, space shuttle