Simple Hand Painted Watermelon T-Shirt

Here is another super simple craft for summer. This little hand painted watermelon shirt is really cute and fun for the kiddos and takes just minutes to make.

We always like to craft some sort of fun clothing item for summer- (I have a few previous projects I will link to below)- usually something involving tie dye. This year though I wanted to try something totally different.

So we have been on a lemon and watermelon craft kick and I when I spotted a cute little white tank on sale recently, I snatched it up and started thinking about a way to make it more fun.

Here is the simple DIY- if you have older children they can probably do this project themselves.

You just need some paintbrushes, fabric paint and a t-shirt, tote bag or tank top.

Use any colors you like, I did a simple white tank and a lime and pink fabric paint. Red and dark green would also look great.

You might consider putting a piece of cardboard in between your shirt to keep the front from folding and the paint from seeping through. Mine didn’t but better safe than sorry and it makes an easier surface to work with anyway. I used a cereal box.

I wanted the watermelon to be even on both sides so I measured from the side seam in- about 1 1/2 inches or so. I did this freehand but in retrospect, I wish I would have put the tank on my daughter first and measured down from the neckline to center it properly on her chest. Once I finished the shirt and she put it on, I realized it was probably painted just a little lower on her chest than I would have liked.

You want a chest watermelon not a stomach watermelon 😉

After I measured on both sides, I made a very light little mark with marker to indicate where the watermelon should begin and end. Next I roughly drew out the shape of the watermelon on the shirt – just a very faint outline to follow.

Once I had the outline, I took the pink fabric paint and just filled in the inside of the watermelon. I did two coats to cover it completely. I used a thicker paintbrush on the inside and a fine paint brush to get crisp side strokes for the edges. You want the fabric paint thick enough to cover the shirt but not too thick or the fabric paint will crack when your child wears the shirt.

Once the pink was finished (and the coats dried really quickly)- I did a freehand green rind all the way around. I left a little white to look like a real watermelon rind.

Once that dried, I used black paint to add in little seeds freehand. I used a fine paintbrush and made sort of an oval shape just randomly throughout the watermelon.

Once that dries you are completely done!

And I wanted to wait a bit before posting this to wash the shirt and make sure it held up well. It totally did. In fact the flat lay photo at the top of the page was taken after washing the top. I did put it inside out and tossed it in the wash with everything else. I put it on a delicate cycle to dry.

I do recommend following the instructions on your fabric paint- mine required 3 days before washing just to be sure the paint set properly.

I hope you give this little project a shot! I actually had the fabric paint so this was like a $4 craft for me.

Please come back and let me know if you give this a try for your little ones. Here are the supplies I used for this project: