Easy DIY: Pentel Fabric Fun Pastels/ Black and White to Technicolour

I first read about Pentel Fabric Fun Pastels on A Beautiful Mess, and was really intrigued- so I decided to buy a set. I picked up the 100% cotton striped shirt at Old Navy (in the post-Christmas sales!), and thought that the existing black stripes would help give a bit of structure to my very simple, very easy triangles. It was a great way to ease into using these pastels, and I love the final effect:

Having little hits of colour on this shirt take it from very basic to something fun and different, and you really can do anything with them- these super simple triangles were just the small detail I wanted, but I'm already imagining other things I could do with them- the problem now is to resist drawing on all my cotton shirts!

Some Tips on using the Pastels:

• The pastels are set with heat from a clothes iron, so whatever you are drawing on, it needs to be able to withstand the hottest setting on an iron. This means that fabric most suited for the pastels will be natural fibers like cotton, linen, etc (stuff that won't melt!)

• You need to use a sheet of blank paper (any kind, really) between the iron and the fabric- I suspect this is mostly about protecting your iron, because you will get some transfer of colour from the pastels to your paper. And better it end up on the paper than on your iron. 

• These set really easily, and really fast- technically you can wash out the design before ironing, but I tested this out and can tell you that the dark colours in the set do not wash out easily. It's worth planning your design carefully before you begin.

• They are just like the artist pastels you would use on paper, in terms of consistency and effect- they are blendable, and have a 'crayon' sort of appearance on fabric. 

I already have another project in the works for these, they are very addictive! You'll be seeing these pastels on the blog again very soon....