I saw the idea of D.I.Y. Tights from a fellow blogger! at The Pineneedle Collective. She does a lot of great D.I.Y's and makes her own clothes too! you can find all her step by steps on her blog.
The idea of the tights instantly caught my eye and I've been meaning to sort my self out with some of my own D.I.Y. Tights for a while now. I spend so much money on patterned tights (which are overpriced because they have a pattern on them, and rip easily!). You can buy a multi-pack of plain tights for so much cheaper and get creative by painting them with your own unique pattern!
I did my first pair the other day, to make my outfit stand out a bit more for when I went on a night out for my sisters birthday, this was the outcome!
My Outfit
Shirt-Years old-Miss Selfridge
Skirt- Stolen from my sister- H&M
Belt-Years and years old!
Shoes-(Just Seen)-Newlook
You have to paint the shapes onto the tights as you are wearing them, either that or put them on someone else and paint the tights whilst on them, which might be a little easier. I was happy with the outcome of these but rather than using fabric paint I used a fabric pen.
Using A Fabric Pen
The problem with using a fabric pen is that the paint from the pen instantly sinks through the tights and onto your skin, which whilst its on your skin, the colour of the silhouette on the tight looks really dark, but once the tights have dried, and you take the tights off (and wash your legs off), the colour is quite faded, hence the grey colour of the hearts, which still look nice but aren't as dark as what I would have liked.
You need to keep the tights on for a good while, or use a hair-dryer to dry them completely before removing them, the last thing you want to do is spend forever painting your tights and then to take them off and smudge them all.
The upside to using a fabric pen is that it is a lot easier to control then the paint, and if your a messy person like me, less messy things are better, but the outcome of the tights with a fabric pen are nowhere near as good as the outcome of the tights with paint. Also with the Pebeo Fabric Pens I used, the tights are washable after 24 hours of applying, where as the paint is only washable after fixing with an iron, which is just more hassle if your feeling lazy! :P
I also created these tights with a fabric pen, but I only took photos directly after drawing them on, which is why the colour looks darker here.
Using Fabric Paint
Although I am quite arty, I am also quite messy, which is why paint wasn't my favourite medium to use, but it did have the best outcome and overall look once finished! but the painted tights do take slightly longer than with the fabric pen.
I found it easier to create a stencil first, just so that the shapes are of the same shape and size, I did a few free hand but they didn't have the same perfect shape as the ones I did with a stencil.
Do a light layer of paint and then another coat over that, if you lay the paint on too thick it will smudge!
Have a hair-dryer close at hand, and once you are happy with the coverage of the paint, use the hair dryer to part dry the tights.
After this sit and watch T.V. for a bit, just to make sure that they are fully dried, when the paint is fully dry you can take the tights off, the bits that are painted will feel as if they are stuck to your leg, and you have to peel them off, which is quite fun, kind of like peeling glue off your hands, which I always liked to do as a child!
Unfortunately the craft shop was out of black paint, so I brought some white paint, and tested them on black tights, which look really nice.
Here is the outcome of Fabric paint on tights.
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| Me getting messy |
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My handmade stencil!
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I can't wait to paint some more tights up now! I need to get some more tights and some more paint! I think I'm going to stick to paint in future, and I'll have to just stop being lazy and get the iron out! If you have any more tips for me, or if you want to know anything else, then just comment XD
LOTS OF LOVE!
Tanya x
