I've been working on some hand-painted children's jackets that will be sold at Maeve's nursery school auction next week. I have five jackets planned, with two done (mostly done, it's hard to let go and be finished) so far.
This one is for a 6-12 month-old: The stars wrap around onto the shoulder, see?
And this one is for a 4 year-old:
The idea is that the designs are derived from common tattoos, and hopefully pretty unisex, though I think I ended up making the PEACE one too girly. Oh well. A very cool boy could wear it! I have certainly painted on clothing before - I love stenciling on t-shirts for our kiddo friends - but never to this level of detail. It's slightly nerve-wracking because there's not a whole lot of room for error; I only have the five jackets and do not want to have to run out and buy more! So they are much like real tattoos in that way, that feeling of permanence. I have been drawing the designs on paper and cutting them out, then tracing the shape onto the jackets with tailor's chalk, but after that initial outline the rest is a free-for-all.
Up next: a koi fish. Then a pirate ship and a mandala. Unfortunately (and unsurprisingly, to those who know me) I didn't leave myself much time to work on this project, so it is sort of all I am doing. But it is satisfying work, and fun. I'm looking forward to seeing the jackets all lined up together at the auction, and hopefully to five little kids in our community rocking them this spring.
