Your boyfriend wants you to make a girlfriend shirt and rep him and his car. Oh you don't have a boyfriend? make an "I hate boys" shirt. Oh, you have a girlfriend? DIY a "My girlfriends hotter than you". Y'all it doesn't matter you could make a Rhinestone shirt for it all. But first you gotta a learn how, so let me teach you how I made this Purrrrfect little Bedazzled top.
My boyfriend, Carson is a major car guy and we go to many car shows during the summer. He loves when I match my nails and he has bought me car show shirts but they just do NOT meet my standards. I want to rep my manz but I don't want to look ugly doing it. So your girl had to come up with something quick for the upcoming event.
First things first, I sketched some ideas and narrowed it down. When coming up with ideas I searched "Baby graphic tees" on Pinterest to get my mind flowing. Also, write down elements from other tops you see that you really like and words or phrases that work for your shirt. For example, I really liked "I'm with the band" tees and I wrote down key words to represent his car: Subie, Bagged, WRX and Stance car. From there just start drawing whatever comes to mind.
You'll want to grab a shirt or any article of clothing you'd like. This can be one you already have, a thrifted clothing item or a new one. I picked my navy-blue tank up at Target.
Next, hop on Amazon and order your Rhinestones.
Cursive Silver Rhinestone Iron on patch: Although these cursive letters were very cute, they are a little tricky. The lettering is placed on a sticky sheet very loosely so you put the backs directly on your shirt then, apply heat with an iron and peel away the sticky top. It creates a very clean looking application. However, be very careful with the rhinestones they can move easily out of place.
Rhinestone Letters Iron Stick on Sticker: These rhinestone letters were fool proof; the sticky side is on the back so no worrying about the rhinestone moving out of place. However, that does mean even when you attach your rhinestone you will see the sticky reside around your letters if you look closely. It makes for not as clean finish but very convenient. Do also be careful about the amount of heat you use; I had a problem with overheating which caused the reflectiveness to dull and even some melting. On the bright side, it applies very quickly.
Hotfix Rhinestone: These individual rhinestones worked great. I did have to apply heat the longest to these but for little touches its perfect. They will also be great if you had a Cricut or some other way to make your own stencil and amazon has many convenient tools to help get the rhinestones into each little groove.
I didn't use any special tools but there are plenty of tools to make bedazzling easier. It depends on what you are making, something with just letters or a small simple design like I did, really won't require anything except parchment paper and an iron.
Now that we have all the materials we need and know your design, let's get started! I took the sheet of letters and cut out just what I would be using and laid them out before I was ready to attach them. You will want to lay them out on your ironing board and not move the letters around much, especially the Cursive Rhinestones since they are attached very loosely.
I took my induvial hotfix Rhinestones and tested out the design on a scrap piece of fabric. It is tedious but goes by quicker than I would have thought. I did this carefully by hand, but a wax pen tool could help save time. Once you have placed your rhinestones, I put parchment paper over and let the iron sit for 30-60 seconds.
Now that everything is carefully mapped out, you can start to take off the plastic backings and apply it to the shirt. I decided to do each of the different rhinestone applications separately. I started with the block letters and set it with a heated iron placing parchment paper on top, then I moved on to the individual rhinestones to make the Subaru logo. I made one at a time and set it before moving on.
I saved the cursive letter for last since they weren't as attached to the sticky paper as well and would need to be adjusted as I went. I also did this last since I didn't care as much to line the letter perfectly straight. Instead, I choose to work around the other letters and rhinestones I had previously placed.
Since these letters came with the plastic on top, I did not use the parchment paper rather, applied the iron directly to the plastic. With such a long word, I did these in three sections to make sure each letter was completely covered under the iron while avoiding the rhinestone above I had already set. I specifically was very careful to not overheat the bock letters since they did tend to melt. Once a letter is set, you can peel off the plastic covering, and you're done!
Now you can go out and enjoy your adorable, bejeweled top. I Surprised my boyfriend by having him come out both of us, camera in hand ready to see my car show outfit. I did tell him I was excited o show him my outfit but didn't tell him anymore and he was so shocked and excited, we took many photos and videos!
Happy DIYing, I hope your cute graphic tee turns out and you have a new super cute, summer top for your wardrobe. Make sure to come back to the blog for more DIY's, Gift ideas, photoshoots editing and more! You can find me on all social media @thegolmoss