This Mandala Colouring T-Shirt makes for a perfect summer activity for your kids (and maybe even yourself). My mom and I love Mandalas and my mum especially loves getting creative with mandala colouring pages and post cards.
Pinterest Challenge Blog Hop – I always find great inspiration and free colouring pages on Pinterest so I figured this would be the perfect thing for Erlenes monthly Pinterest Challenge. Learn more about this challenge, who is participating this month, and find lots of inspiration in my fellow creatives projects at the end of this post!
I made one shirt for my mom to lift her spirits as she is in hospital at the moment, and a shirt each for my darling god-daughter and her sister. They are spending their summer vacation in Italy and I thought they might enjoy a little colouring action whilst quiet time during siesta or in case of a rainy day.
As soon as I have pics of their wonderful creations, I’ll make sure to share them with you. Follow me on Facebook so you don’t miss out!
Now, do read along to learn how to either make a shirt on your own, where to buy one if you don’t feel like DIY-ing, and some great tips & tricks on how to uniquely design your DIY mandala shirts.
Supplies to DIY a Mandala Colouring T-Shirt
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- White t-shirt
- Cutting machine (such as the Cricut Maker, Brother ScanNCut, or a Silhouette Cameo 3)
- Black iron-on vinyl
- Mandala design (find several FREE designs HERE – you’ll find many mores for super little money, too!)
- Cricut Easy Press (alternatively use a regular iron and baking sheets)
- Fabric markers or fabric paint & brushes
If you don’t feel like making the colouring t-shirt yourself (there is only so much time in a day to DIY things, right?), but still want to enjoy the fun activity of designing your very own colourful Mandala T-Shirt, I’ve got you covered:
Make sure you have fabric markers or fabric paint & brushes at home!
A Mandala Colouring T-Shirt makes for a FUN Summer Activity or Gift Idea
You have two options:
- DIY your very own unique colouring t-shirt with a Mandala Design of your choice (find several HERE).
- Buy a Mandala Shirt HERE if you’re on a tight schedule or don’t own a cutting machine.
How to DIY a Mandala Colouring T-Shirt using a Cutting Machine
Let me explain to you in detail the 4 necessary steps:
1 – Prepare the Mandala SVG Cut File
I have a Brother ScanNCut, but you can use any cutting machine (such as the Cricut Maker, or a Silhouette).
- Find a mandala design of your choice (you’ll find several nice ones for FREE here),
- upload it to your cutting machines design space,
- resize the image accordingly to the measurements of your shirt, and
- start the cutting process.
2 – Cut out your Mandala Design with a Cutting Machine
Make sure to use iron-on vinyl and to place it into your cutting machine with the right side up (I always need to think real hard which one that is, lol). Also, I think you’ll achieve the best results using a black one, but I guess any dark colour would do.
Use whatever you have at hand to save you some bucks.
3 – Weeding your Cut-Out: Therapy or Nuisance?
Now, as for the weeding part: This might take a while!
If you are not prepared to invest that kind of time (especially if you have several kids you are planning to occupy with this summer fun activity) you could always buy my ready-made colouring shirts HERE. I made sure to choose a design that is not too delicate so it will work on smaller kids shirts as well as on adult ones.
4 – Transferring the Design onto your T-Shirt
Nifty Hack to DIY Girly T-Shirt Sleeves
Believe it or not: I’ve had the biggest trouble finding white plain basic t-shirts for my girls. As I was only able to find boys shirts that have fairly long sleeves, I DIY-ed those girly rolled up or cropped sleeves by folding the sleeves up twice in the width of the seam allowance (a little press with your iron can help but is not necessary) and simply secured them with two cross stitches (one on the top of the sleeve and one on the bottom).
I think this makes for a fun add-on, don’t you think?
Buy a Mandala Summer Fun Kids Activity Colouring Shirt
If weeding an intricate mandala design is not your kind of thing, or you simply don’t have a cutting machine, stress not! You can buy these darling ready-made mandala colouring t-shirts on Amazon. So far I only have uploaded one design (the one to the right in the image below), but if you want a variety, just let me know!
You’ll be able to find male, female, and kids sizes when clicking the following button:
And don’t forget to get fabric markers or fabric paint & brushes, too, whilst you shop on Amazon. This can save you shipping costs and time needed to run into your next crafts supplies store!
Summer Fun: T-Shirt Colouring Activity for Kids (on a Rainy Day)
A – Using Fabric Markers
Originally, I thought it’s best (and the only option) to colour these mandala shirts with fabric markers.
Tips for the colouring process:
- Make sure to always insert some cardboard between the front and back of your shirt, else the colour might seep through.
- Use a piece of white scrap fabric to try out those felt markers before painting your shirt. Sometimes the actual colour is not the same as the pens lid might suggest.
- The fabric markers I’ve purchased for my little girls don’t need any curing with heat (perfect for the vacation in Italy, because who brings an iron on a vaca, right?). They only need to dry for 24 hours and then they’re ready to go into the wash.
2 – Using Fabric Paint
Now, my mom wouldn’t be my mom if she didn’t challenge my creativity, lol.
I mentioned earlier that I’ve made her a shirt to cheer her up whilst in hospital. She broke her right arm (and she is right-handed!!) and had to have surgery during which they inserted a ton of nails and screws into her bone…hence no cast, but a delicate arm with little strength and even less mobility.
She asked to have fabric paint and a brush and it worked out quite well in the beginning (see image above). I think she got impatient after a while (and might have secretly changed to regular acrylic paint without telling me), but seeing her smile tells me she had fun none the less.
Related: Stenciled Pillow Covers to use up that left-over fabric paint.
I think her unique – if a little messy – orange, red, and yellow mandala shirt still turned out awesome! If nothing else, her design (done with her untrained left hand) shows you that you can entertain even a toddler with this fun summer craft activity 😉
Don’t forget to place some cardboard inside your shirt to protect your shirts back and to cure the fabric paint according to your brands directions (usually you’ll place a tea towel (find a cute little DIY HERE) on your design and iron the dried fabric paint for a certain amount of time.
More projects to come!
I am planning on making a shirt for myself, too. I think it would be fun to place the mandala a little lower so it will sit right on top of my very pregnant belly ? . But I am mulling over a different technique.
Ain’t no fun to do the same thing over and over again, right?
A onesie for my baby boy is also in the making. Make sure to sign up to my newsletter (you’ll have access to my freebie collection as a little thank you) so you won’t miss out on these tutorials.
Find other projects to DIY Wearables, messing around with Paint&Stencils, or Cutting Machine Inspiration here on Craftify My Love. You’ll find even more inspiration over at FaveCrafts.com.
Love,
PS: Don’t forget to PIN this to Pinterest.
Let’s meet this month’s Pinterest Challenge hosts!
My Pinterventures • Cookies Coffee and Crafts
Sew Crafty Crochet • Sum of their Stories • Eye Love Knots
This Autoimmune Life • Love My Little Cottage
Across the Boulevard • Suzerspace • My Sweet Things
Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After
Purple Hues and Me • Decorate and More with Tip
Mom Home Guide • Our Unschooling Journey • Our Good Life
Intelligent Domestications • Craftify My Love
Life Beyond the Kitchen • K’s Olympic Nest • Teadoddles
Our Crafty Mom • My Family Thyme
Farm Girl Reformed
To join next month’s #pinterestchallenge, click here to sign-up ⇒ July Pinterest Challenge
Now, let’s see what the other hosts have created:
My mom loves coloring designs like this. I will have to pin this for the next time I visit her we can work on some Tshirts together.
That would be wonderful, Terrie! Have fun together.
What a great idea! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you dear!
What a fun idea! I am not sure I want to sit and weed for that long of a time but I just might because I do love coloring and that would be so fun to do even on a tote bag. Pinned.
I wasn’t sure either if people would enjoy this excessive weeding, so I went ahead and created the shirts to directly but for them. I already have bought a tote bag to decorate with another mandala design, too ?great minds think alike ??
I have never thought to do an iron on design that you can decorate with fabric paint or markers- this is a great idea for a rainy day or just for fun. My kids would love doing this. I still can’t decide if weeding is a nuisance or relaxing- I’m totally undecided.
Hi Jenny, I think you’ll be able to decide after you’ve weeded three mandalas, lol. I hope you’ll find the time to make a shirt with your kiddos one day.
So much fun! Love the mandala and your suggestion to gift the shirt with a pack of fabric markers.
Habiba, what a fun and wonderful gift to give your mom. She did great BTW! One year I had my volleyball team make their own tie-dye shirts for a team building activity. They would love this! Think I am going to ask Santa for a cricut ; )
Great idea, Kelli! You really should as Santa for a Cricut. It’s such a useful helper in the craft room.
I am enjoying coloring in a Mexican art adult coloring book. The details of the illustrations remind me of those in your lovely mandalas. Very pretty!! You are so clever to turn these works of art into patterns for tee shirts. Great tutorial.
Thank you, Leslie. I love that the design ideas for colouring T-shirt’s are limitless. A sugar scull would look wonderful, too, don’t you think?
What a fun project – my daughter would have loved this when she was little! And prayers for your mom (and you on your upcoming delivery)!
Roseann, you are so kind. Prayers are much appreciated.
My daughters would love a shirt like this for them and I know it would keep them entertained for a while. Unfortunately my paciente level regarding weeding is close to 0, the option of buying it sounds better. Pinning!
That’s what I experienced, too. Weeding those intricate mandalas takes quite a while. Buying sounds like a great alternative. Thank you for your support!
This is so fun! I always have trouble picking colors for coloring, so I would probably be the weirdo just rocking the white and black uncolored look, but I think this would be such a cool idea for a girls night, or two have different colored version tees, or even a bunch of the mandalas throughout the top. I especially love your moms version. She really looks so happy with it on 🙂 So sweet!
I love all of your ideas, Alexandra! I’ll keep them in mind for future projects. ?
I hope your mom is doing well. This is a great gift to give and is such a fun project. I can see this keeping my youngest busy for the summer. Pinned.
Her arm is much better, thank you! I can’t wait to see other creatively coloured mandala shirts and hope that kids all over are having fun creating them.
This is lovely, I can imagine mandala bags too or this design on the back of a pale denim jacket – what fun!
The bags have crossed my mind, too. The denim jacket sound perfect and very stylish!
This is a great idea, thank you for sharing at The Really Crafty Link Party. Pinned!
Thank you, Teresa!