Even when I already have a few projects going, I tend to work another one into my schedule. One that is only going to take me an hour, maybe two, or so I think.
Since I work at a school, opportunities for these “fast” projects pop up at least a couple of times a year. They are usually for a spirit day. To remember 9-11 this year we had a patriotic day. I have some red, white and blue items in my closet, but for some reason I conveniently forgot them. I wanted a t-shirt with a rhinestone US flag and an appropriate phrase, something all-purpose so I could use it for other occasions, such as Veterans Day. (My husband was a Sea Bee in the Navy.)
I already had a red t-shirt for another project but ended up not needing it. With an iron-on rhinestone flag and some letters I would have my spirit shirt in about an hour. Turned out my simple project wasn’t going to be so easy. I had looked at rhinestone flags on the internet, but there wasn’t enough time to order one. I live in an area where a couple of craft and hobby stores are within reasonable distance. I picked one and crossed my fingers. Drat! They had some rhinestone iron-ons, but no flags.
Sometimes, you just want what you want. On those occasions, I have a back-up plan. I start roaming the store looking for inspiration and a suitable substitute. It actually didn’t take me long to find a possibility. When looking for “Plan B” never overlook end-caps and main isle displays (otherwise known as the race track). Since I was looking for rhinestones (other than the individual iron-on stones) a convenient main isle display quickly caught my attention. It held scrapbooking rhinestone stickers, some as single peel-offs and others in a 2-stone-deep, yard-long strip called “Bling on a Roll”. In case you’re wondering the brand is called “Recollections”. The “Bling on a Roll” had definite flag-making possibilities. And best of all, this lovely display was 50% off.
To make sure I had enough to complete my flag, I bought 1 pkg. of blue .9mm stones, and 2 each of white and red. I also picked up a package of gold glitter script letters for my phrase.
On my way home, I started planning the actual execution and taking a mental inventory of glues I had in my stash. Though the stones came on an adhesive, I didn’t trust it for long-term hold on a t-shirt that I would want to wash occasionally. I thought my fabric glue was on the shelf in my studio closet, but didn’t find it. However, I did encounter the bottle of Mod Podge. It can be very versatile, so I grabbed it.
Before gluing anything to the shirt, all the flag pieces were cut and laid out on the front to determine placement. I started with the “Stars” corner. My rhinestone flag is an exact representation. To determine how many blue rhinestones I wanted in a strip I studied a picture of the flag. There are 6 stars in 5 rows and 5 stars in 4 rows. The six star rows begin and end the pattern. I cut 13 single stone strips each with 13 stones. The 2 top and bottom rows of strips are solid blue. To make the stars, starting with row 3, I removed every other blue stone from the adhesive and replaced them with white. (b, w, b, w, b, w, b, w, b, w, b, w, b). The 4th row started with 2 blue stones, then every other was removed. The stripes were kept 2 stones deep. I decided to make the top 7 stripes 26 stones long. The 6 bottom stripes are 39 stones long.
It took a bit of shifting to make sure the design was centered from side to side. The trickier part was making sure the image was close enough to the neckline. When creating designs for t-shirts it’s better to place within a few inches of the neck. If the image is centered between the neck and hem, it will be too low when the garment is worn. After I was satisfied with placement, I used a pencil to mark the bottom red stripe. I started gluing and final placement of the flag with the bottom stripe and worked my way up. Before actually gluing the stones to the shirt make sure you place something inside so the front doesn’t end up glued to the back. I had already cut out my letters for the back so I used the plastic packaging they came in. I kept the stones on the adhesive strips they came on to make placement easier and faster. After the plastic backing was removed I used a bamboo skewer from the kitchen to apply Mod Podge to the back of the stones. Mod Podge is a runny product. If you use it for a similar project try to keep your item over the bottle and let the excess run off. Otherwise it will land where you don’t want it.
After all the stones were glued down I used a small paint brush to put Mod Podge between them. It’s water proof when dry, and I wanted to make sure the stones stay where I put them. However, I don’t think this is a garment I’m going to put into the washing machine. If I calculated correctly there are 1,014
rhinestones on my flag shirt (Yikes!). It’s doesn’t seem too heavy when on, but there is some heft there. The Modge Podge was allowed to dry overnight. Now that I have the benefit of hindsight I would have ironed my phrase to the back before applying the stones. I ended ironing the letters to the shirt shortly before leaving for work. After I got home I brushed Mod Podge over the glitter on the letters. Hopefully, it will keep it from rubbing off over time.
If I have any nuggets of wisdom to pass on after this project, the first would be this. Don’t think too hard about the actual logistics. You might scare yourself out of doing something downright impressive. I tend to be a seat-of-the-pants crafter and was formulating the number of rhinestones needed for each section as I went along. I had no idea I put over 1000 rhinestones on this shirt until I did my calculations for this post. I guess that's why it took me almost an hour to put Mod Podge between them. I might have decided it was too much effort if I had known what I was really doing, but must say that the sticker strips were a big time saver. Nugget number two – keep your eyes and your imagination open. You never know what you might be able to create.
The Project Queen
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