Ivy settled back on her chair. ‘Tell me the story again,’ she said. ‘Exactly as it happened.’
Olivia looked surprised. ‘Ivy Vega, are you becoming a die-hard romantic?’
Ivy felt herself wriggle with embarrassment. ‘Never! Don’t ever say that in front of anyone else. I just . . . you know . . . want to make sure you don’t forget any crucial detail. You’ll probably be telling this story to your grandchildren, so you want to get it right!’
The two of them burst out laughing, then Olivia cleared her throat, ready to repeat the story. It was a good one, after all . . .
Readers, I have such an exciting piece for you in this month’s issue of VAMP magazine! Our very own star journo with the bluest vampire blood running through her veins – yes, Ivy Vega – has agreed to write a piece on vampire fashion for all those young and hip readers out there. I know you’re reading, don’t try to pretend you’re not!
Apparently, there’s this trend called ‘refashioning’, and Ivy likes to refashion T-shirts for going to Pall Bearer concerts. Shudder. Personally, I can’t stand their yowling, but these bands are all the rage. As are Ivy’s outfits! Readers, brace yourself for some fashion magic – over to you, Ivy.
Signing off,
Georgia Huntingdon, Editor in Chief
When Georgia invited me to write about fashion for VAMP, I felt like someone had put a stake through my heart. Me, Ivy Vega? Fashion? Give me a break. Yeah, my twin thinks the mall is heavenly. Olivia will buy anything that is pink or has a rhinestone glued to it. Not me. I like to make my own statement. Which got me thinking . . .
Whenever the Pall Bearers are in town, I get the gang together and we all have a total Fright Night customising our own T-shirts to wear to the concert. I know that there have to be other teen vampires out there who like to put their own goth spin on what they wear.
So if you think you can totally rock red – blood red! – get your gear together and get ready to make this cool coffin-logo T-shirt . . .
Materials Needed
White or cream T-shirt, freshly laundered and pressed
Suitable work surface
Newspaper
Paint brush
25mm-wide masking tape
Measuring tape
Red fabric paint
Tailor’s chalk, or washable coloured pencil or pen
Ivy’s Instructions
First you need to get prepared.
Lay your T-shirt flat on a newspaper-covered work surface.
Put another piece of old newspaper between the front and back of the T-shirt. (This is to protect the back of your T-shirt from any fabric paint leaking through.) Smooth out any wrinkles in the fabric.
This ‘refashioning’ project features a funky coffin painted in red, so first you’ve got to mark out the coffin shape using masking tape. Then you get to paint it in!
First, find the centre of your T-shirt by measuring across the front from the base of one armhole to the other. Divide this measurement in two. For example, if the measurement across is 30 cm, your centre point will be at 15 cm.
Draw a little ‘X’ here using your tailor’s chalk or washable coloured pencil, about 5 cm down from the neckline, to mark the centre.
Cut a 7 cm piece of masking tape and stick it down horizontally, centred below the X. This first piece of masking tape will mark the top of your coffin shape.
Now it’s time mark out the first two sides and base of the coffin.
Measure 10 cm down the middle of the T-shirt, starting from the top edge of your piece of masking tape. Mark place with an X. Measure 10 cm out to the left of this X and mark place with another X.
Measure 10 cm out to the right of your centre X and draw another X. You should now have three Xs in a straight line across the middle of your T-shirt.
Cut two pieces of masking tape 13.5 cm long and place each on the diagonal from the corners of the top piece of masking tape to the Xs on either far side. Now you’ve got your top two sides marked out.
To find the bottom of your coffin shape, measure 23 cm down from the centre X and draw one last X. Cut a 5 cm long piece of tape and stick it down horizontally, centred below this bottom X.
Now for the final two sides of your coffin.
Cut two 25 cm pieces of masking tape and lay them diagonally from each outer point to each side of the bottom piece of masking tape.
Woohoo! You have made a coffin shape! That’s the tricky part done. You should have something like this:
Now mark a 1 cm border all the way around the outer edge of your coffin shape, using your tailor’s chalk or pencil.
Apply a second set of masking tape around the outside of the border you’ve marked. You don’t need to measure the tape lengths as carefully this time, just ensure that all lengths of tape overlap. Like this:
Now it’s time to add a ‘V for Vega’ shape to the centre of your coffin!
(Though, if you prefer, you can make your own initial out of masking tape. Apologies to anyone whose name begins with Q . . . You could be in for a long afternoon.)
For the V, cut a 7 cm strip of masking tape and cut it in half lengthways. Place the two pieces in a V-shape in the centre of the coffin and trim the bottom of the V horizontally where the two pieces meet.
Press down firmly over all the masking tape.
Your T-shirt should now look a little something like this:
OK, now it’s painting time!
Shake your bottle of fabric paint and remove the lid.
With a paint brush, apply an even layer of red paint to all fabric inside the masking tape.
(A note to all you vamps out there: you’ll probably get very hungry right about now. Red paint looks a lot like blood, so it’s a good idea to scarf some Marshmallow Platelets before beginning!)
Still have some red paint left? You could splatter a few blood drops on your T-shirt:
CAUTION! Make sure there is nothing nearby that might get ruined by a few drops of red fabric paint. Clear the vampire decks!
Dip your paintbrush into the paint. Don’t overload your brush. Hold the brush near a corner of your T-shirt. Pull on the brush bristles and release. Spatters of ‘blood’ should go across your fabric.
Repeat as necessary. Now go and wash your hands!
Replace the lid on your jar of fabric paint, wash your paintbrush(es) and leave your T-shirt to dry. It should need about three hours, but I like to leave it overnight.
Once your T-shirt is completely dry, remove all masking tape. Get an adult to press your T-shirt with a hot iron to seal the colour and it’s done!
You’re all ready to go to a Pall Bearers concert and scream with all your might!
Check back next time for more top do-it-yourself tips, fashion fans!
Discover the fangtastic new series from Sienna Mercer . . . These twins will have you howling with laughter!
To their classmates, Daniel and Justin are identical twin brothers. But in fact they couldn’t be more different.
On their thirteenth birthday, one of them is destined to turn into a werewolf . . . This full moon is going to change everything!
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13 Double Disaster - My Sister the Vampire Page 12
