My family and I just got back from a trip to Disneyland, which was our first time experiencing Galaxy’s Edge! It is also known as, “Star Wars Land” if you’re not a huge nerd like us. Dressing the part is a large part of this new experience, and we wanted to get the most out of it, so we put together some outfits. I’ll give you the rundown of my husbands outfit in a future post, but today I am focusing on my Mandalorian Jacket.
I have wanted to paint a denim jacket for a long time, so this trip was the perfect excuse. Painting a jacket seems a bit intimidating, but I am here to assure you the process is far easier than you might expect!
To begin, I found a second hand jacket on Poshmark, which is one of my favorite places to buy clothes. Next, I came up with a few ideas for the designs I would put on my jacket. You can see part of my process in the video below.
Using Procreate, I was able to mock up the placement of each design before committing with paint. This gave me a lot more confidence! If you don’t have a program like Procreate, you could also sketch on your jacket with chalk first. The designs I chose were the Mandalorian’s sniper rifle, a wavy pattern inspired by Beskar Steel, a silhouette of The Child (baby Yoda), the Mudhorn signet, “A Clan of Two” written in Agency FB (which matches The Mandalorian tv show logo), and “This is the Way” written in Mandalorian.
Once I had finalized my motif ideas, I imported each of them in black and white to my computer and traced them with my Silhouette Cameo software. I have shared this file at the end of my post, but you could also print your own designs and trace them by hand before painting if you want extra guidance like I did. I did freehand the wavy steel pattern, so don’t be afraid to try some freehand painting too! You could also cut them with HTV on your silhouette, but I wanted a rougher, more handmade look, which is why I opted for paint.
After placing the stencils, I went at it with my Posca Acrylic Paint Pens. The silver pen I used was great. I did have to do a couple passes in some spots, but overall I was satisfied with the coverage. I did not like the coverage of my white Posca pen; it just wasn’t opaque enough for this project. I ended up swapping in basic acrylic paint, mixed with fabric medium to complete the white portions. I also ran out of silver in my Posca pen, so I had to make an emergency run to my local craft store where I picked up a deco art fabric pen in silver. I almost liked the deco pen more! It was really helpful to use my black Posca pen to sharpen the edges of my letters, and “erase” any mistakes. I might only paint on black jackets in the future for this reason!
When your stencils are filled in, let them dry almost all the way before removing them. This will help prevent the paint from seeping out, and will help to keep your lines crisp. Once all the paint is dry, you have to iron it with high heat to set it into the fabric. I ironed the back, and pressed the front with a thin tea towel in between the iron and the paint. I do not plan to wash my jacket in the washing machine. Spot cleaning with a damp rag should be enough, and it means your jacket with last a long time!
If you want to watch my process in action, you can see part 1 at the end of my studio tour, and part 2 here. Let me know if you decide to paint a jacket of your own, and tag me @HayleyRaeDesigns on instagram so I can share your masterpiece!
Hayley Rae Designs 
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