"Chat Mouse"
Fabric Painted Shirt
by
Jan Spanik
Copyright © Jan Spanik 1998
May be used for fun and profit and teaching in class. No mass or commercial reproduction
without consent from Jan Spanik's family.
Thank you.
My friend Jan passed away August 1999. We had been on-line friends for several years and I was deeply saddened with her passing. I will miss her greatly as I know many of you will too. In honor of her memory, her sense of humor and her love of painting, I will keep this pattern on-line to share with the rest of the world. Thank you Jan, I miss you very much.
Special thanks to chatting pal Jan Spanik who has donated this design to share with you! This charming mouse is to be painted on your shirt pocket or any shirt will do. Be sure to wear your shirt to all the painting classes and conventions you go to, that way we can spot a chatting buddy right away!!!
Brushes: Round Fabric Scrubbers: Sizes 0 & 2
Liquitex 2 oz. Bottled Acrylics:
Unbleached Titanium
Taupe
Red Oxide
Titanium White
Brilliant Blue
Gray Neutral
Raspberry
Scribbles Dimensional Fabric
Paint:
Watermelon
Black
White
Delta Gleams Metallic:
Silver
General Supplies:
Shirt board
Black Sulky Transfer pen
Vellum Tracing paper
Sandpaper
Clamp-style clothespins
Black permanent ink pen
PAINTING INSTRUCTIONS
Special Note from Jan: It is not necessary to have a T-shirt with a pocket. Please feel free to paint a fake pocket as pictured in the line drawing. (Line Drawing is at bottom of this page)
General Preparation:
I don't find it necessary to wash a shirt before painting but if you wish to do so make
sure you don't use fabric softener.
Pattern Transfer:
Trace the pattern onto tracing paper with a black Sulky transfer pen. The directions for
using the pen are on the back of the package. Remember the pattern will be reversed when
ironed on to the shirt so any printing must be backwards on the traced pattern. Pin or
tape your pattern to the shirt, ink side down, and slowly move a hot iron over the
pattern. This pen transfers very quickly, just make sure the pattern is dark enough to see
clearly. The same pattern may be used two or three times before it gets too light to see
properly.
Shirt Preparation:
Place shirt on shirt board and put an 8X10 sheet of fine sandpaper (rough side against
shirt) under the area to be painted. If long sleeve shirt, tape, pin or tie sleeves to
back of shirt so they don't flop into wet paint while you are working. I usually knot them
tightly behind the shirt which props up your board a little and makes it easier to work
with when painting. Pull shirt tight around edges of board and hold in place with
clamp-type clothespins or large paper clips. Do not pull shirt so tight that it distorts
your image.
Painting:
Using Loew-Cornell round fabric scrubber brushes, scrub basecoat paint into fabric.
Shading and highlighting are done in the wet-on-wet method, applying to the basecoat while
it is still wet. Make sure to blend them well into the basecoat color. The harder you push
on the brush the more the colors will blend. It is best to do a small area at a time so
the paint doesn't dry before you do the shading and highlighting. Do not worry about
painting over detail lines, they will show through the paint.
When painting small sections, make sure to "feather" out paint so it doesn't leave a line where you have stopped to shade. Also, use the biggest brush you are comfortable with to speed up painting time. I generally start at the top of a pattern and work my way down, always painting any black areas last. Slightly pull paint away from edge of ears and head to give a furry look.
EARS: Base ear with unbleached titanium, shade with taupe. Shade inner ear with a little taupe and then with watermelon. Hi-light with titanium white.
HEAD & FACE: Base face with unbleached titanium, working around eyes and inside of mouth. Shade with taupe using color picture as a guide and doing a small area at a time so paint doesn't dry before shading is done. Use watermelon to shade tops of cheeks; hi-light around eyes and muzzle area with white.
HANDS: Base with unbleached titanium, shade with taupe and hi-light with titanium white.
TONGUE: Paint with watermelon
DRESS: Dress is based with raspberry and shaded with black, hi-lighted with white.
MOUSE: Computer mouse is painted with gray neutral and hi-lighted with white. Make small dots for nose and eyes of mouse.
PAINT BRUSHES: Bristles are painted with red oxide and hi-lighted with white, ferrule is silver. Paint one handle black and the other handle with brilliant blue, both hi-lighted with white.
EYES, NOSE & MOUTH: Paint eyes, nose and inside of mouth with black. Hi-light top of nose with white. Place white dots in eyes.
DISK: Disk is painted black, hi-lighted with white. Metal part of disk is painted with silver.
ICQ & POCKET OUTLINE: Write ICQ and outline pocket with white dimensional paint. Also do pocket stitches.
TO FINISH:
Allow shirt to dry completely then
go over all lines with a permanent ink black pen to bring out details. Add any
ornamentation such as buttons, bows, etc. Allow to dry and remove shirt from board. If
using fabric paint such as Scribbles, Polymark or Tulip, heat setting is not necessary.
Using Liquitex bottled acrylics: place shirt in dryer for 20 minutes to heat set.
Care:
Machine wash and tumble dry.
