How To Make an Independence Day T-Shirt

To paint your own t-shirt you can use Simply Spray fabric paint, available at or Krylon spray paint available at for a buck. Simply Spray colors are more intense but the Krylon spray paint is more economical and becomes softer after the wash.

A few things to note:

• Each t-shirt will be unique using the easy random twist, pleat and scrunch method. 
• New t-shirts must be washed before being painted to remove sizing so the fabric or spray paint will penetrate uniformly. 
• Lay out the t-shirt on newspaper outside. 
• Finger pleat the lower part of the shirt and lay a newspaper over the top part from the sleeves up. 
• Spray the lower pleated part with red and let dry.

Cover the lower part of the t-shirt with newspaper so you can protect the red striped area and work on the top blue part of the t-shirt. Using stiff paper, cut out a few stars and place on each sleeve, held in place by a small rock.  Hold a bit of the t-shirt fabric in your fingers and turn your wrist forming a spiral several places on the top of the t-shirt as shown in the video. Spray the top part of the exposed t-shirt lightly with blue paint. 

Spread out the top flat, repeat the spiral swirls for a more interesting abstract design and stay away from the stars on the sleeves for the final blue fabric spray. Wait for the t-shirt to dry thoroughly before painting the back, which is optional. The T-shirt may be washed after 72-hours, which allows the paint time to set.

I found that creating these unique T-shirts in the same basic colors for my children makes them easy to spot in a holiday crowd. These t-shirts made great gifts, too.

Michaels often has t-shirts on sale at two for $5 but your favorite white t-shirts that have been stained are also a great candidates to renew and reuse with paint. I got a quite few t-shirts at ACTS Thrift Shops for under a buck because clothing in the bins are a dime a piece until 4 p.m. every Friday. 

During birthday parties, reunions and picnics it's fun to keep the children busy creating their own take-home favors. 

Unleash your creativity and add color to your t-shirt wardrobe by using the simple pleat, twist and scrunch method to make quick and easy tie dye t-shirts, too.