I’ve been wanting to make a Frankenstein shirt for the past two Halloweens. I adore Halloween and all the darling Frankenstein crafts that are out there, but you don’t see a lot of shirts. I found a green shirt at WalMart for $2.00 (score!) and took that as a sign that it was time to bring this project out of my brain and onto fabric.

How to Make a Frankenstein Shirt by Amanda Formaro for Kids Activities Blog

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Make a Frankenstein Shirt

If you can’t find a shirt at the store, Michaels and Hobby Lobby usually stock several colored plain t-shirts near the fabric paint. You could also dye a white one green!

How to Make a Frankenstein Shirt by Amanda Formaro for Kids Activities Blog

You will need:

  • Green shirt
  • Black and white fabric paint
  • Black fabric paint marker
  • Shirt form or piece of foam core board
  • Tools: paintbrush, roll of duct tape*, ruler, bottle of glue*

How to Make a Frankenstein Shirt by Amanda Formaro for Kids Activities Blog

*The bottle of glue and roll of duct tape are simply for tracing circles for the eyes, you will not actually be using either one.

How to Make a Frankenstein Shirt by Amanda Formaro for Kids Activities Blog

There are LOTS of fabric paints out there and I know that choosing them can be confusing. I like the soft fabric paints, which means that they will not dry stiff, they move with the fabric. There are different brands, I have successfully used both DecoArt’s So Soft paint and Tulip soft fabric paint, which is the one you see pictured here. I also used a Tulip dual tip fabric marker to draw the design.

How to Make a Frankenstein Shirt by Amanda Formaro for Kids Activities Blog

If you do a lot of t-shirt painting, you probably have a t-shirt form. I just use a piece of foam core board and insert it inside the t-shirt. This gives you a solid surface to work on as well as protecting the back side of your shirt from any seepage (of which I had none, but never hurts to be safe).

How to Make a Frankenstein Shirt by Amanda Formaro for Kids Activities Blog

Use the fabric marker to draw the hair, which is simply lines going up and down in a triangular pattern across the front of the shirt, about chest level.

Squeeze some black fabric paint on to a plastic dish or palette (paper plates can absorb paint, so avoid using those) and brush the paint onto the shirt within the drawn lines.

How to Make a Frankenstein Shirt by Amanda Formaro for Kids Activities Blog

Use a ruler and your marker to draw your eyebrow. Use the roll of duct tape and trace around it to create the eyes below the brow.

How to Make a Frankenstein Shirt by Amanda Formaro for Kids Activities Blog

Trace the glue bottle inside the larger circles to create the eye pupils. Use your paintbrush to color in the eyebrow and pupils with black paint, and paint the whites of the eyes with white fabric paint.

Finish Frankie off by using the marker to add a simple nose, some stitches and a stitched mouth.

Follow the instructions on your fabric paint for curing. This product says to dry flat for four hours and wash inside out after 72 hours.

How to Make a Frankenstein Shirt by Amanda Formaro for Kids Activities Blog

Then find a silly ham of a child to wear it and take lots of pictures! Happy Halloween!

Amanda Formaro of Crafts by Amanda

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