Cerise Magazine

July 2007 Issue

Features

• From the Editors
• Craft Check: Sunpaint T-shirts
• Gaming in the Media: To Wii, or Not to Wii?

Interviews

• Jess Hartley [Tabletop RPG writer]
• Robyn Bremner [Game tester, Capcom Interactive Canada]

Articles

• Inviting More People to the Game
  Author: Cherie Thomason

Cherie proposes some simple ways to make games more inclusive.

• Racial Inclusiveness in Gaming
  Author: Latoya Peterson

Latoya explores the problems that the industry has with race and proposes some solutions.

• Does Inclusive Game Design Make Sense?
  Author: Andrea Rubenstein

Andrea takes on some of the common stumbling blocks that hinder inclusive game design.

• The Women of Twilight Princess
  Author: Ariel Wetzel

Ariel breaks down the major women of Twilight Princess and examines how the game uses female characters in general.

Gamer Stories

• Buying My New Gaming Mouse
  by Christin Gilbert
• From Gamer to Game Designer
  by Andrea Rubenstein

Reviews

• Nintendo Wii and Wii Sports
  by Janet Tait
• Shadowrun
  by Bonnie Moxnes
• Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side First Love
  by Jenni Lada
• Retro Review: The Dreadnaught Factor
by Abby Wilson

 

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Sun printing fabric paint is easy to use, and doesn’t require any skill with painting. All that’s necessary are a few easy-to-obtain supplies, a sunny day, a little time, and a willingness to give up some control of the creative process – working with water and sunlight as your major tools means that the composition will never be exactly what you were planning. T-shirts make a great canvas for sun printing fabric paint, and provide for a fun opportunity to make some wearable art.

If you have (or work with) children, this project is an excellent one to share with young crafters. Even very small kids can pick out objects to print, and choose colors for an older helper to paint onto the fabric.

Cost: moderate. A sampler pack of sun printing fabric paint (The type used in this tutorial is sold as “Setacolor Soleil,” manufactured by Pébéo) can be purchased at your local craft store (if you have no luck there, try online) for about $20, US. The other supplies will bring your total cost up to $30-$40, depending on how many t-shirts you want to make, and whether you can get them inexpensively.

Time: this craft can easily be completed in an afternoon.

Skill level: perfect for beginners, still fun for those with more experience working with dye.

Equipment: you’ll need sun printing fabric paint, clean cotton t-shirts, foam brushes, disposable containers for mixing paint (plastic cups work very well), something fairly waterproof to stretch the t-shirts over (large sheets of foamcore work well – if you use these, you may also need a craft knife), sun, shade, and water. To fix the paint onto the t-shirts, you will probably need either an iron or access to a clothes dryer – check the instructions included with your paint.

You will also need the objects you intend to use to make your prints. Good choices can include pieces of video game hardware (face plates from controllers, etc.), gaming-related clipart or designs printed out on thick paper and cut out, dice and other small, iconic gaming tools. Make sure that any object you want to use is either disposable or waterproof.

If you’d like to use them, a spray bottle filled with water and fabric marking pens can also come in handy.

Step 1: Prepare the t-shirt(s)

Slide your t-shirt over a piece of foamcore (cut to size) or other waterproof material that will keep the paint from bleeding through from one side of the shirt to the other.

Get the area where you want the paint to go on the shirt thoroughly wet using a foam brush or, if you have it, a spray bottle filled with water.

Step 2: Mix your paints

Following package directions for your sun printing fabric paint, mix up the colors you want to use in your plastic cups.

Step 3: Paint the shirt(s)

Working in the shade, start painting a simple shape onto your shirt. Be aware that the paint will spread quickly to wet areas of the shirt – it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to paint a design with a firm outline.

Finish up your painting with any other colors or design details you want to include, and set the brushes and paints aside.

Step 4: Place the objects to be printed, and begin printing

Put the object or objects you want printed onto the painted shirt, and place it in direct sunlight.

If you’re using paper cut-outs, you might want to weigh them down with small stones or other heavy objects.

The most satisfying sun printed designs are often the ones with the least planning behind them. For the design below, I simply put the contents of the bottom of my tabletop gaming bag onto a shirt (after rinsing them first to remove traces of gaming snacks and pencil shavings…):

For a very abstract-looking design, I tossed a bag of dice onto a tea towel I had treated with sun printing fabric paint:

Once you’ve set all of your different projects out in the sun, leave them until the paint is completely dry. This should take somewhere between 15 minutes and an hour.

Step 5: Remove objects and finish the shirt(s)

Take your projects out of the sun when they’re dry, and remove all of the objects. Discard those you do not wish to keep, and wash the others to remove traces of paint. Fix the paint onto the shirts according to package directions (probably ironing on a high setting for a few minutes, or drying in a clothes dryer).

If the outlines on your shirts aren’t as crisp as you’d like them to be, you might wish to go over them with a fabric marking pen at this time (this effect is shown in the “sword + 3 shirt” below). Be sure to fix the paint from the pen, as well – most fabric marking pens require that you wait some time before washing the item, but some require ironing, etc.

Your shirts are finished, and ready to wear!