Hand-painted Band Denim Jacket

Hi, my name is Alexa and I am a high school student at Monterrey, Mexico. I've always wanted to have a painted denim jacket with a cool design that I like. So far, I haven't come across any, so I finally decided to make my own.

- Denim Jacket

- Acrylic Paints - colors depending on design

- Fabric Medium

- masking tape

- white or colored pencil

- brushes

- pen

Before starting, make sure to wash your denim jacket to ensure that it’s completely clean so that the paint won’t fall off. Then choose the design you'd like to paint. With a white or colored pencil lightly sketch it into the jacket (doesn’t have to be a very detailed sketch), you can also use masking tape for a clear outline and clear edges.

Mix your paint with textile medium using the ratio one part paint, one part medium. This will keep the paint from cracking and falling off the denim. Paint a white base coat on your design. This will ensure that the colors are visible and won’t blend into the blue denim. Sketch out your more detailed design on top of the base coat. You can use a thin black pen or a pencil.

Paint your design. Make sure that the sketch lines are not visible and remember to mix the paint 1:1 with the medium. Note: don’t use too much paint, thin layers are best to avoid cracking.

Let your denim jacket completely dry for about 10-20 hours and remove the tape (if using any).

Turn your jacket inside out and iron the backside of the painting. Do not iron directly on top of the painting itself. Iron for about 5-7 minutes, 1 minute at a time. After each minute let the denim cool down before continuing. Set your iron to the max setting without using steam. After ironing, let your jacket completely cool down before using it.

You’re done!