D.I.Y. - Poison Ivy's Arkham Asylum Shirt

Hi guys, here is the second part of my Poison Ivy DIY! In this part I'll talk you through painting the Arkham Asylum symbol onto the back of your shirt (this tutorial works for any kind of stencil, not just the Arkham Asylum symbol).

1) Make sure you've followed PART ONE!

2) Design your stencil! To do this you'll need an image, cardboard (I used the side of a cereal box), glue, scissors / a craft knife and some toothpicks. If using scissors you may also need some tape.

If you wish to make the Arkham Asylum symbol into a stencil you can print off this one and stick it onto your cardboard. You can print off almost anything and make it into a stencil but remember the more complicated the picture the more difficult it will be to make the stencil! Of course you can also design your own stencil and if you're feeling brave you can draw it straight onto your cardboard. Once again remember the more complicated you make your design the more difficult it will be to cut it out!

The Arkham Asylum symbol is a complicated design as it involves letters with holes in which need to be magically attached.

3) Cut out the black bits. If you have a craft knife (only use one if you are old enough to and are confident with one) this shouldn't be too much trouble (remember to use a board so as not to damage the surface you are working on) however with a bit of creativity and blind faith you can also neatly cut out a fiddly stencil with scissors. If you are careful you can make extra incisions into the white of the stencil and then patch them up with the tape (I used a water proof tape and stuck it onto both sides of the stencil for extra security). For example the letters were far too thin and angular for me to cut them out smoothly. By making an extra incision into the white around each letter the scissors had more freedom of movement and could get into all the points.

Remember I talked about magically reattaching the holes (they are officially called 'islands') in the letters? Well I taped thin lines cut from the scraps to create 'bridges'. Here is a much clearer example of what I mean. For extra sturdiness I used toothpicks on the big As.

When the stencil is completed it should look like this when held up to the light:

4) Paint your design onto the back of your shirt!

Spread your shirt out onto a piece of newspaper (so as to protect the surface beneath) - remember to undo the shirt! If you paint onto a buttoned up shirt the paint will go straight through onto the front! If you are painting onto a t-shirt put newspaper / card into the shirt to protect the other side.

Because my shirt was quite flimsy I pinned the stencil onto it to prevent extra folds. I put old padded envelopes between the shirt and newspaper for something for the pins to go into.

Paint on that stencil! I used Dylon Fabric Paint and a small everyday paint brush. Leave to dry.

Once dried you can apply another layer of paint to even the colour out. If you wish to paint with more than one colour paint each colour as a separate layer. Leave each layer to completely dry before painting the next.

Leave to dry again then remove the stencil.

5) Set the paint. This next step depends on the instructions of the fabric paint you used. With Dylon Fabric Paint you must iron the paint to make it permanent. Because my shirt is made of a thin material I put it between two tea towels when I ironed it. Don't use a steam iron!

6) Wear it! Wear it! Wear it!

 

The cat is called Freya. She actually belongs to the people across the road but prefers it with us lol

 

 

For extra Poison Ivy touches wear the shirt over green and with floral accessories (especially in your hair) though of course all of Batman's greatest foes end up in an Arkham Asylum shirt at some point in their lives so you could also match it with colours and symbols worn by any of your favourite villains!

 

P.S. - I haven't forgotten about my short comic tutorial - I just haven't finished my character designs for the next stage yet. D'oh!

D.I.Y. - Trimmed Shirt

Hi guys! Here is a really simple DIY to liven up a plain shirt for dirt cheap! I did this with an ox-blood (maroon) and blue for a very specific reason but monochrome is really popular at the moment and I think this make would look super effective in white and black such these shirts from River Island and Forever 21:

 

You will need:

• a plain shirt (opaque or semi-transparent)
• plain ribbon / binding
• thread the same colour as the ribbon / binding
• a tape measure to work out how much ribbon / binding you will need
• a thin sewing needle and pins / a sewing machine

Steps:

 

1) Measure the areas of your shirt you want to line to work out how much ribbon you will need (always allow for extra just in case you make a mistake). I used a 1cm wide ribbon for the front of the shirt and collar and a 3cm wide for around the bottom. Whatever width you choose remember that you will only see half of it as the other half will have been folded round the hem of the shirt.

 

2) Make sure that your ribbon / binding comes as one long piece rather than in short lengths as it will look ugly where you join them. That means that if you are lining the collar and front like I did it will all be ONE piece of ribbon / binding.

 

3) Decide if you are going to use ribbon or binding. I used ribbon because binding didn't come in the colour I wanted. There are pros and cons to both:

• Ribbon comes in more colours and thicknesses than binding
• You do not need to hem ribbon
• Ribbon can be cheaper than binding
• Ribbon is made of stiff, artificial materials so can be awkward to sew, especially with a sewing machine
• Binding is purposely designed to hem / line garments and can easily be applied using a sewing machine
• Binding is not hemmed but is folded so that when you sew it you hem it at the same time
• You can make your own binding from any cloth but it will not be hemmed and will not be folded - only do this if you are a confident sewer!
• If you do buy ribbon make sure NOT to buy gift wrap ribbon. It is more expensive and is usually very plasticy / lined with metal so will be hell to sew with and make your garment rigid!

4) Trim your shirt! I hand sewed it because I don't trust myself on a sewing machine and used ribbon. I folded a small length of the ribbon around the hem so that it was equal on both sides of the shirt and pinned it. I then sewed it using a simple but neat back stitch:

 

 

I pinned it a little at a time instead of all in one go so that I didn't sew any bubbles and ruffles into the ribbon or shirt (which can happen if the materials aren't exactly lined up properly when you pin them).

 

 

When lining the collar remember the 'back' of your sewing (eg the messy side) will become the front (the neat side) which is why I say keep your sewing neat!

 

5) Hemming the ends of your ribbon / binding is the only really tricky bit. Fold the end of the ribbon in on itself so that your ribbon just meets the edge of your hem) and then sew it like the rest of your ribbon. It took me a few attempts to fold the ribbon to the right length. I then used some very tiny stitches to hold the end of the ribbon into place so that it didn't unfold itself whilst I focused on keeping the rest of it folded over the hem of the shirt.

 

And there you have one trimmed shirt!

 

CLICK HERE for how to turn your maroon and blue shirt into the shirt Poison Ivy wears in Arkham Asylum and Arkham City!

Holy Bat-Freak! Holy Musical B@man!

Just when you think it's safe to check your updates another Bat Freak comes flying at ya! I've known about this one for a few weeks now but I've been trying not to spam you with more than one post a day.

To be honest though, you're probably more aware of this musical if you're a Harry Potter fan (which I shall henceforth be calling Potheads) than a Batman fan. Holy Musical B@man was created by Team Starkid, a musical theatre company best known for their Harry Potter musicals. You just have to take a look at the comments for the B@man vids to see them spammed by Potheads. You do not, however, have to be a Pothead to enjoy B@man (thank goodness) - in fact the more of a bat / DC geek you are, like me, the more you will get out of it.

Holy Musical B@man embraces the fun of the 1960s Batman series, the style and wit of the 1990s animation and pokes a hell of a lot of fun out of the overly-serious Christopher Nolan trilogy (and Nolan fans). If you only like Nolanverse Batman then this musical really isn't for you. Though...if you only like the Nolanverse then probably no musical is for you.

Despite the bright colours and smiley singing HMB is also not for little kids. One of the running jokes is Batman saying, "F*CK YOUUUUUU" in the style of Christian Bale Batman every time he fires Alfred.

The story: Incredibly selfish (this guy really is an ass) billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne / Batman develops an instant bond with fellow orphan Dick Grayson. Grayson becomes Robin and together they fight crime however Gotham is not impressed that their gritty hero is being camped up with such feelings as loyalty and friendship. A new villain in town, Sweet Tooth, sets into motion a plan to get rid of Batman for good and poison Gotham's water supply. He kidnaps Robin and Batman is forced to choose to save Gotham or his new, only friend. What will he do? Who will he choose? Will he ever learn to not be a selfish ass?

I'm not going to lie - it starts a little slow. There is singing and dancing and stuff happens and Batman's frenemy Superman is introduced but it is only until well over halfway through the first act that the villains make an appearance and the actual plot kicks in. After that though all systems are go! Everyone can act, everyone can sing, everyone can dance. The songs are pop and very catchy (one line in To Be a Man is STILL stuck in my head and I haven't listened to it in DAYS). But, despite the slow to kick in plot, what really shines is the script. It is genuinely hilarious. As a big Batman fan I can say right here and now I haven't seen a better parody. It's hard for me to give an example of a good joke, they all are. Fair enough half the time you have to like puns and be able to laugh at jokes that are so bad they're good but...considering Batman's greatest villain relies on bad jokes all Batman fans should be used to that by now! The script is obviously written by a DC fan for DC fans (all of DC's greatest heroes make an appearance). I'm afraid I can't say how funny it is to people who are new to Batman but I think it is probably a good place to start if you are interested in getting into it. The only thing that I wasn't so hot on was the portrayal of Commissioner Gordon. I'm so used to him being noble and ethical (his own set of ethics, not necessarily the right set of ethics) that seeing him as a doddery, helpless old man didn't quite fit.

What I found very refreshing about HMB but may be the biggest disappointment for other Batman fans: the lack of Joker. Never fear though Joker fans, super punster Sweet Tooth and his bicoloured queen of chaos, Candy (not at all anything like Joker and Harley Quinn.......) should fill your Joker void. They are epic in design (what I would give to own a Candy costume or even just her boots or hair). I think they could easily become part of the rogues' gallery...and probably will in some fans' hearts. I've already seen one Candy cosplay.

You can watch the entire show on Team Starkid's website as well as see photos, download music and watch their other productions (including those Potter ones). Just a tip though - if you do like the songs and do want to buy them but not the whole album That's What I Call Starkid Volume 2 (it's £9.99 / $9.99 for the cast recordings but also instrumentals and demos of the same songs which means in some cases the same song three times) then you can buy the songs separately on iTunes for £5.53.

***

A more family friendly Batman stage show is Batman Live which is like Cirque de Soleil meets Batman.

If you're a more diehard Batman fan then please, also glut yourself on the Batman musical that never was - Jim Steinman's Batman: The Musical (yeah just contemplate that combination).

See you soon for another Bat Freak!