Fun with Undershirts!

I recently tried a few new crafts I found on Pinterest. In a double-crafty post on Life of Charmings, blogger Brittany covered two fun projects: infinity scarves and batik dyeing. The infinity scarf tutorial originally came from A Bit of Sunshine, and used men's XL undershirts. I bought a 7-pack of white Hanes tshirts and got to work: cut across the shirt just under the armpits, dye the fabric, wash and stretch. 

These are dyed with Rit's petal pink and pearl gray:

The pink scarf has subtle polka dots courtesy of the batik method below.

The second half of Life of Charmings' post covered batik dyeing, a la Ucreate by Sweet Verbena, using Elmer's glue gel (apparently it must be the blue gel kind) and Rit dye. Using the glue, I drew a lotus flower on a shirt and left it to dry overnight. I did the same with a neck tie design on a onesie. The next day, I dyed both (Rit's denim blue on the onesie, and a demin blue + purple mix on the tshirt). I think they came really cute! 

Warning: be VERY careful using dark dyes; I used rubber gloves but still have smurfy fingers because I accidentally touched the dye bath while stirring sans gloves. 

Also, feel free to be a rebel: the directions said to wet the garment before using the glue gel, but for the polka dot scarf and the onesie, I forgot. I finally remembered for the lotus flower, but I actually didn't like the way it turned out. I'd prefer not to wet the garment, and not get as much spread from the glue. 

Onesie:

I assume the onesie is okay to wear after one or two washes, but I imagine new moms might be skeptical about putting a dyed-at-home garment on their baby. I don't know anything about babies. Would the dye irritate their skin, even after being washed? Hope not. 

Tshirt:

The tshirt is its own project. Following the tutorial on Trash to Couture, I adapted one of the men's XL shirts into a dolman top. It was surprisingly easy (the video helped), though I admit I just kind of winged it. 

Crappy photos, but you can see the lotus design and gathered side seams.

If I were to attempt it with a better quality shirt, I would be more careful in measuring how tight the waist should be. I figured it would be a cute shirt to wear to yoga over a tank top. You know, all casual and semi-sloppy in a zen-like way. 

Embarrassing bathroom photo.