I've been drooling over galaxy anything recently so I wanted to try my hand at DIY Galaxy Shorts. These are actually from last summer, but since they're still in style and Coachella is soon, I felt fine showing them off now.
I recommend using shorts you were already planning to get rid of in case it doesn't turn out.
What you'll need:
- Plastic bags (for in between the shorts so the bleach doesn't bleed through)
- Old towel (it WILL get stained and look ugly)
- Empty Spray Bottle
- Bleach (I used regular clorox)
- Black Shorts (use jean for best results)
- Clothing Paint (I'm pretty sure I used every color. Definitely get black for touch ups and white for stars)
- Paint brushes (I used these foam ones)
I found everything I needed between Target and Michael's. In hindsight, spray paint would have probably been cool and would've been much easier with the stars I think.
Lay your shorts flat on the towel. Make sure there's multiple layers of the towel underneath as well, as bleach seems to seep through everything.
Stuff the plastic bags in between the shorts- you'll probably want about 4 or 5.
Next, start spraying bleach!
I saturated certain areas and would try spraying from different angles to get different effects. Flip over and repeat.
It takes a pretty long time for it to finish bleaching. I felt like I was waiting forever and I got so impatient and just kept spraying them. Not sure what the best practice is here but there was no harm done.
Painting: Use white as your base coat so the colors come out more vibrant. Cover all the bleach spots with white (it uses up a lot of paint but leave some for the stars). Definitely wait for this to dry or you'll end up with pastel colored galaxies.
Use about three colors per galaxy and try to blend the colors into each other and blend out onto the unbleached parts as well.
I tried multiple things for the stars that didn't really work but you can try them yourself if you'd like. I dipped a paint brush into the white paint and then made it spin fast with my palms (like when you rub your hands together to get warm). This didn't really work, but it didn't look bad either. I tried flicking the brush at the shorts too. Honestly, the best thing though is to just use a pushpin to even out the amount of stars and the groups. Try to put groups together in a concentrated area and then spread them out from there.
I let mine dry overnight before washing them since I did them at night in order to do it outside. Next day I cut the edge of the shorts, made little cuts around the front and back, and then washed and dried them alone so they wouldn't get anything on my other clothes.
Once they came out of the dryer, they were PERFECTLY frayed. I took a serrated knife and made a little more damage at the top and sides as well.
And you're done! Perfect for music festivals, summer, beach, with any color or style. I plan to make a back pack or something with this method soon too!
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