T-shirt Art: Make Your Own Iron-on Designs
"The Klutz T-Shirt Art Kit" is a colorfully illustrated, spiral-bound book with very easy-to-follow, detailed instructions. It comes complete with everything you need to make your own iron-on transfers: plastic, transfer overlay sheet and 6 tubes of fabric paint.
To review this product, I rounded up my test kids, ages 4, 5, 8, 9, 10 and 12, cleared the table, laid out the t-shirts and got to work. Being careful to smock up, they each chose a pattern from the pages of graphics which are categorized as follows: Island Madness, Surfer Style, Super Stars, What's Your Sign, Petals and Wings, Goodies To Go!, Hey, Bag Lady!, Wild Attire, Snow Wear, Love Is All You Need, Culture Couture, Yee Haw, Happy Shirts, and Sports Divas. Besides clip art and graphics, there are letters, numbers and symbols. The boys had a harder time finding patterns they liked than the girls did, but they were triumphant all the same.
Next, we laid the plastic sheet over the artwork. A baggie can also be used for this part. The paints are in easy to use squeeze tubes that even my 4-year-old mastered quickly. It took some practice getting just the right amount of paint on the plastic, but the book has a nice illustration showing you which amount is too much, not enough and just right. Once the painting was complete, the designs had to dry for 24 hours before we could proceed, much to the dismay of all.
When it was time to iron-on the transfers the iron had be on the cotton/no steam setting and be pre-heated, meaning SUPER HOT (so be careful)! Ironing in a slow, back and forth motion for 20 seconds, we then pressed the iron along the edges of the transfer with the ironing paper still in place. After cooling completely, I am very pleased to announce that all of the transfers adhered nicely, so we didn't have to deal with any disappointments. As a matter of fact, the project was so successful that the two older children, both boys 17 and 18, wanted in on the action.
"The Klutz T-Shirt Art Kit" is great fun for the entire family. My 4 and 5 year-olds needed quite a bit of aid throughout, but all the other children were able to work independently once the instructions were given. The instruction part of the book is so clear and concise, that the 12-year-old was able to guide the other children through the steps with little to no involvement on my part. I feel you can never go wrong with anything that is inclusive of each and every member of the family, and "The Klutz T-Shirt Art Kit" meets that requirement!
