I have to admit-- I never thought I'd see the day where I'd find myself scrolling through various online shops in search of a pocket tee. When they first began resurfacing in stores, I was adamant to ride this trend. It seemed like such a waste of money; I mean, c'mon, P500 for an oversized white shirt and a 3 inch patch? I can appreciate minimalistic styles, but this one just seemed a little too ridiculous.
But alas, here I am anyway, sitting before you as I type away about my recent desire to create a pocket tee of my own. After much apprehensiveness, I finally crawled out of my little bubble and gave the design a chance. As it turns out, the little spark of color amidst a completely monochrome slate is actually pretty chic.
I knew I needed one ASAP.
But given my limited funds and self-proclaimed stinginess, I decided to put my DIY skills to the test. And after 20 minutes of crafting, I am happy to say that I am extremely proud with how this turned out.
And now, I want you guys to join in on the fun!
MATERIALS NEEDED:
Plain shirt (Most of you already have this one lying around, but since I don't have many plain tees, I just got mine from Japan Home Center for P80)
Photo transfer paper (I got the 3G Jet Opaque Heat Transfer Paper for P225 from National Bookstore)
Scissors
Photo you want to use for the shirt
Stamp remover*
Iron
*This one's optional. You'll do just fine peeling off the backing paper with your fingers. But I just personally used one since I already had them lying around.
HOW TO MAKE IT
Get some inspiration. Before starting with the actual DIY, I went on Etsy to look for some cute patches. I found this Tortured Artist Club one from the CultureFlockClothing shop account, then found a sticker version on their website. (Below you will see the other designs that I chose, but those are for other upcoming DIYs.) Once you've successfully cropped and edited your selection, print it first on regular paper as a test. Then if you're content, print it out on the transfer paper depending on your brand's instructions.
Find a shirt. Any color, cut, and size will do. As for the fabric, it depends on what your brand can handle. Just to be safe, I recommend a regular cotton shirt. If this is your first time trying this, I suggest using one that you're comfortable with messing up in case the process doesn't go as planned.
Positioning. Grab your printed image, cut out any unnecessary parts, then play around with the placement and alignment. REMEMBER: Make sure to cut exactly what you want the design to look like. If you're printing a letter with a space in it, make sure there are no visible white spots because white paper is still a different shade from any type of white shirt, even if you think it looks the same.
Ironing. Follow the printing instructions your package dictates. For my brand, I had to place the shirt (clean and wrinkle free) beneath the ironing sheet the transfer paper pack came with, then I layered one more spare shirt over the ironing sheet before I actually began ironing it. Iron with the necessary temperature and duration, and..
Voila! You're done! You've got yourself your very own pocket tee! That wasn't too hard, was it?
Well, I hope you enjoyed that DIY! People told me last year that I should film myself making my DIYs but since I'm kind of a babbler on camera, I hope this blog post will suffice :)