Okay, so I’ve been wanting to make an “ally shirt” for a while now, just something simple to show my support. I finally got around to doing it, and I thought I’d share how it went.
Gathering Supplies
First things first, I needed a shirt. I just grabbed an old, plain white t-shirt from my closet. Nothing fancy, just a basic cotton one. Then, I dug out my fabric markers. I’ve got a whole rainbow of colors, which is perfect for this.
Planning the Design
I didn’t want anything too complicated. I thought about just writing “ALLY” in big letters, but then I decided to get a little more creative. I sketched out a few ideas on paper first. I ended up going with a simple heart design, using the colors of the progress pride flag. Just a little something to show my support, you know?
Making the Shirt
- I put a piece of cardboard inside the shirt to prevent the markers from bleeding through to the back. Good thing I did, because those markers can be messy!
- Then, I lightly sketched the heart onto the shirt with a pencil. I messed up a few times, but it was easy to erase.
- Once I was happy with the outline, I started coloring it in with the fabric markers. I did the stripes of the progress pride flag: black, brown, pink, light blue, white, and then the classic rainbow colors.
- It took a little while to get all the colors filled in, and I had to be careful not to smudge anything.
Finishing up
After letting the marker dry complelely,I tossed the shirt in the dryer on low heat for like, 20 minutes, just to set the colors. And that’s it! My very own, handmade ally shirt. It’s not perfect, the lines are a bit wonky in places, but I like that it’s got that handmade, personal touch. It’s a simple way to show what I stand for.
