You know when a crafty blogger posts a project tutorial, but it is clear that the real purpose of the post is to drive home how talented and amazing her family happens to be? This is one of those. Yes, you will see how I made a custom t-shirt using HP inkjet t-shirt transfer sheets, but what I hope you walk away with is the knowledge that my stepson rocks, and so does the barbershop quartet to which he belongs.
We are traveling to Kansas City for the world’s largest acapella competition, the International Convention, to cheer on The Chris Bateson Experience as they strut their vocal stuff. Here is a one minute video clip if you are interested… Kansas City Barbershop Competition.
You can’t go to an international barbershop quartet competition in Kansas City and not wear a t-shirt sporting the band your stepson is in, can you? I thought not. Here is the design I created in Photoshop. The silhouette is from a photo I took of them at a recent show. 
I realized that the free floating music notes and text would be hard to cut around, which is no big deal if you are transferring to a white shirt, but one of the shirts in my project is yellow. I stuck in this blue background to encase the majority of the stragglers…
I used Avery Stretchable Fabric Transfers that I had picked up awhile back. I used one of the sheets to make a custom shirt for a friend, and I remember it not working very well. That hasn’t changed. I followed the instructions to the tee and the transfer was weak. I mean seriously weak. I didn’t take a photo at that stage, but trust me. There was just a faint outline. That is where my fabric markers came to the rescue. I carefully and lightly went over the outlines using a fabric paint pens. Turned out lovely! I looked up the transfers online and found really negative reviews, with many complaining nothing transferred to their project shirt. Another common complaint was that they do not hold up to washing. I won’t be washing mine until we get back from K.C., so I guess I will find out then.
Notice the blue background did not show up at all on the yellow. I am lucky I got enough black outline to guide my paint pen!
Enough of the t-shirt. On to an uplifting vocal treat, brought to you by The Chris Bateson Experience. Enjoy!
