Quickly Stripe Shirts for a Slimmer Look
You can pinstripe your own shirts very easily, and if you choose one from your existing wardrobe, you’ll save money on the shirt and get just the right style you want. Or, buy a plain shirt, with the style you like, then apply the pinstripes at home. If you’re not trying to look slimmer, but just love stripes, you can go with horizontal stripes instead.
Paint markers make it easy to pinstripe a shirt. The markers are found at craft and department stores and last a long time. They’re as easy to use as a regular marker and the paint is permanent. To make sure your shirt turns out perfect, also purchase a disappearing ink marker, found where sewing supplies are sold. The ink marker generally dispenses a purple ink that disappears after 24 or 48 hours.
Lay the shirt flat out on a table. Make sure there are no creases in the shirt or sleeves. Find the exact center by measuring from shoulder to shoulder, from side seam to side seam (or side fold), and from side hem to side hem. Mark the center line with the disappearing ink marker. Use the same marker to make all the stripes, then go back over them with the permanent paint marker.
Work from the center stripe, over, then from the center line again, over to the opposite side. This will ensure that your stripes are evenly spaced. The fabulous thing about using the disappearing ink marker is that you can lay the yardstick directly on the ink lines and there’s no smearing or smudging.
As you get to the side of the shirt you’ll notice that you still have plenty of room for more stripes on the upper side, near the armhole, but you’re running out of room towards the hem. That’s okay. When you’ve placed the last ink line that will fit on the side, at the hem, continue making shorter marks from the side up to the armhole area. After you’ve marked the entire front, mark the sleeves. Measure from the last mark you made on the shirt itself, and continue the pattern onto the sleeve.
Tricky parts to striping the shirt include the underarm area, going from shirt to sleeve, and marking the underarm part of the sleeve itself. Since the ink marker won’t smudge, just turn the sleeve as you’re marking it. It can be helpful to put a coffee can, or something similar, into the sleeve, then simply roll it as you make the marks.
After you have the ink marks on front, back and sleeves, it’s time to actually apply the paint marker. Since the marker is actually paint, it will smudge and smear if you don’t allow each stripe to dry thoroughly. Paint markers don’t take as long to dry as, say, paint on a wall, so touch gently, after an hour or so, to make sure it’s dry before turning the shirt to a different position.
Your shirt doesn’t have to have the same color of stripes all the way across. Make patterns of different color stripes, alternating 2, 3 or 4 colors. The markers come in metallic colors, day-glo types, even pearl-looking colors.
If you don’t want to invest in paint markers, regular permanent markers can give you the look you want, too. Black, red and blue markers are great for tee shirts, but the color will fade after awhile.
