Okay, okay – so we’re taking a breather from our usual kitchen-related reader redesigns to share a super cool project on a smaller scale. Well, if you call a project that involves 120 hand-drawn monsters a “small” undertaking. Now I’ve got your curiosity piqued, eh? I’ll let Jen explain:
My son Daniel is a prolific artist and I wanted to showcase some of his sketches and decided that I would do so on a duvet cover. He designs his own Pokemon, complete wtih names, types, and evolutions and he chose those for the project. Here are his design sheets:
I photographed each chosen design. Then in Photoshop I erased all extra marks around the edge, used the Hue / Saturation tool to effectively bleach out all colour, converted it to grayscale and increased brightness and contrast to get a nice, pure black & white image to trace. Then I resized each chosen character to fit on a sheet of paper and printed them out.
I chose the first image to trace, put it on a piece of cardboard and slid it into the top left corner of the duvet cover. Then I began tracing it with the fabric marker.
This is after about four and half hours of tracing:
Preparing the images took around 2-3 hours (I didn’t take note of the time) and the actual tracing took around 8 hours. I didn’t do it all in one go but worked on it as and when I had time, packing it away in between tracing sessions. And here is the final product, which I am so happy about – and thankfully Daniel likes it too! – Jen
Now c’mon, how cool is that? Daniel not only gets to sleep among his (very inventive!) creations every night, but also gets this daily reminder of how dedicated his mom is to celebrating his imagination. You can check out Jen’s blog for more pics and info on the process, like whether or not it survived the wash (spoiler alert: it did!). Maybe we’ll make Clara one of these someday. And even if kid doodles aren’t your design of choice, I can see this method working to transfer a large handwritten love letter or something. So cool.
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Kelsey Noble says
I was skeptical at first, but it looks fantastic! I love your idea of a love letter duvet. Totally stealing that idea from you guys to make one for our bed!
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh send us pics!
xo,
s
Cher says
WOw, what a great way to celebrate her sons creativity. GREAT project!
erica p. says
That is seriously the coolest idea ever. I love that she is celebrating her son creativity, and it looks awesome!
Amber says
That is really cool! What awesome parents he has & that is one creative little boy. Might use this for my cousin’s birthday present.
Lindsay says
This is so awesome!
Hally says
That’s awesome! You could do it with any design!
PS I just wanted to say thanks for the 2012 Calender template. I made one with photos of my in laws, for my mother-in-law, and she freaked out! Thanks so much.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, so glad!
xo,
s
Jane says
So cool!!! I bet you could also scan all of them in and print on fabric like you guys did for Clara’s first birthday and then sew a duvet or pillow covers.
Julie says
AMAZING. (Daniel, Jen, AND the duvet.)
Julia @ Chris loves Julia says
I must be feeling emotional today, because this brought tears to my eyes. A mother’s love is always inspiring!
Faith J says
Oh wow that is awesome!!! Not only does it look great, it’s a wonderful keepsake.
Tomi Ann says
Wow wow wow. That is just plain awesome!
Julie says
I pinned this a while ago – what a fantastic idea!
small says
What a great idea, and what a creative mom and son!
Kim says
This is totally off subject…kinda (still in kid zone).. you have to check out Target $1 bin.. they have play Sushi for Clara’s kitchen! I don’t have kids, but I almost bought them because they were so darn cute!
YoungHouseLove says
No way! We love sushi in our house (Clara has even eaten some). Must check it out asap!
xo,
s
Grace says
I love the duvet – what a wonderful idea. It reminds me of a b/w duvet that a friend of mine had that was the entire text of Romeo and Juliet and everywhere that had the line “Romeo, Romeo wherefore art thou” the text was in red. She gave it to her husband for their anniversary one year. It looked great.
Krystle @ ColorTransformedFamily says
I love this! I love how clean and stylish it looks paired with the purple pillows. This is such a thoughtful gift!
laura says
What a CUTE project! Something you and your child can do together. So great!
keri says
ahh! so cute! another fun project – he could color in his drawings with fabric pens :)
Kendall says
This is such a neat idea for kids. I just love her creativity and her patience for how long it took!
michelle says
this is so cool and loving at the same time, made me tear up. I hope they keep this to give to his child someday.
Jenna at Homeslice says
Very cool! That’s a great idea for any kind of drawing!
Polina says
Love this! The most creative and original idea i have seen in a while.
jbhat says
I too am super impressed. This is the sort of thing her son will keep forever and pass on to his kiddos. And use and love now–it’s wonderful.
jbhat
Patti says
Their creativity must be in the genes, so amazing!
Gabrielle says
Incredible! Fantastic idea.
LC says
My favorite reader redesign EVER. And seriously, you could sell that duvet and those sketches for so much money and I know people would pay for it. Totally hits a chord.
Sara says
That is freggin adorable!
Angela says
Before I scrolled down to see the end result, I was worried that it would look a little TOO homemade (sort of the DIY version of When Keepin’ It Real Goes Wrong). But I’ve got to say I really love how it turned out. Excellent work, and serious mom bonus points!
GreenInOC says
This is such a sweet project it made me cry thinking of the love her son would feel every time he sees it!
Catherine says
I hope that when I have kids I can be an awesome a mom as Jen obviously is! I’m in awe!
Kim says
LOVE this!! I hope that Daniel appreciates what a dedicated mother he has. I totally choked up.
Molly says
That is awesome! What a creative mom she is!
Teresa @ wherelovemeetslife says
How cute! And what a great mom to use her son’s work like that! :) I had seen this pinned on pinterest a bunch of times…people seem to love it! Great work Jen! And thanks for sharing S&J!
SarahWest says
Wow! That is such a great idea!
angella says
This is amazing!!! A great idea for when we switch my son to his “big boy bed” in just a few months.
kristina says
I’ve had an ache to make a quilt with an embroidered map of Chicago (saw it once, forgot where), but I’ve not tackled the project because it would just take wayyyy to much time. I might use this method instead of hand-sewing a map; thanks so much for the inspiration!
HollowSquirrel says
This is awesome and adorable! I love it– my sons are big into Pokemon, too, and create their own Pokemon! Great idea!!
Jennifer says
That might just be one of the most awesome things I’ve ever seen! What a great mom, and what a talented kid!!
Lizz says
holy cow, this is SOOOO cool!!!
Kara says
That might be one of the coolest duvets I have ever seen. Such an amazing idea and so happy that it survived the washing machine! Definitely something he wil sure treasure for a long time.
Think this could be great for smaller projects as well, such as pillow cases or throw pillows, to integrate personal artwork into everyday use.
Cara says
That is so cute and inventive. I wonder if you could also scan the images in and get custom fabric made like you did with your clara fabric.
Sara says
Love this idea, what a great way to boost your child’s imagination and pride in his own work. Major kudos to the super mom!
ellis says
Wow- GREAT project!I kinda want a blanket like this- no really LIKE this. With Daniel’s drawings and everything. :)
lindsay says
OOOOOhhhh. I LOVE this.
mp says
A mom’s love is awesome!
Aaroohi says
Cool project! But I wonder what was the need to convert pictures to B&W when she was gonna trace them with black marker anyway!
Also I feel a kid’s art should not be made into boring b&w, kids love color! J&S please don’t convert clara’s coloring art into b&w.. that is like demeaning child’s imagination..
Natalie says
So much fun! Our baby bear’s room is getting all kinds of manic and colorful – I need to make something like this immediately, perhaps with rainbows and unicorns.
rosa says
loved the finished product! but since i’m so into color + keeping it as close to the original as possible, i would’ve probably scanned the pics and printed them onto iron on paper so that i can just iron on the colorful pokemon onto the duvet cover :)
beth says
I will be doing this. myolder daughter designs clothing all day long and her younger girl draws mermaids. too cute.
kids art looks great on mugs, coasters and matted and framed. esp black pencil drawings. every house needs a mermaid.
dhw says
What a fantastic way to celebrate your son’s creativity. It’s gorgeous, and I’m sure he will treasure it always. Great job!