DIY Harley Quinn (Suicide Squad) Shirt

Last night I finally started my Halloween costume. I've been purchasing all my materials from various online sites such as Amazon, Etsy and Michaels. If you don't already know, I am dressing up as Harley Quinn from the new Suicide Squad movie. Although the movie isn't out yet, the idea for Harley Quinn's costume is all over the interet. I'm taking the costume, recreating it and then putting a few of my own twists to it to make it more personalized.

I started with the shirt. I ordered the shirt from Etsy as I do not have the patience or the handwriting to recreate the actual text of "Daddy's Lil Monster" on a white shirt.

​So yeah, theres the shirt. Wow. Go me I took a picture of a shirt. Next I put the shirt on and decided where I wanted to cut it. I grabbed a pair of fabric scissors and just started ripping. I reccomend getting in character (I'm serious) and just rip your shirt up as if you were going crazy for the Joker. If you want, use a nail file or sandpaper for the holes in the shirt to look more realistic. I turned my shirt into a short crop top as Harley Quinn is going for the badass sexy look, which I'm 100% fine with. I may cut the shirt even shorter when I'm done.

I accidentally ripped a couple holes that were too big. At first I thought about sewing them up but Harley Quinn wouldn't take her time sewing things up. Instead, I grabbed safety pins and threw a couple of those on, making the shirt a little more rugged.

Next, I grabbed some red dye I just happened to have laying around the house from my last tie dye project. I layed my shirt down in a cardboard box. Remember to dye your shirt somewhere safe so you don't dye your whole house red...or yourself.

Here's where I learned a little lesson. When you dye a shirt, remember that the color will bleed past the original spot you wanted the line to stop. I originally wanted the red not to past the word "Daddy's" but I accidentally poured on more dye that I thought. I wasn't too upset about it though because this is just me customizing MY Harley Quinn costume even more and making it a bit different from the rest. I hung my shirt up upside down so that the dye wouldn't bleed all the way to the bottom of the shirt. Let the dye sink in over night.

This morning I woke up and while taking a shower, I washed out my shirt. It looked like I murdered someone in the bathtub this morning... After about 20 minutes of rinsing my shirt, I hung it up to dry in my backyard for the day.

My nest step later tonight is to cut the collar of the shirt a little lower and to add a bunch of safety pins at the collar. I'm thinking the safety pins will add a nice "grunge" look Harley Quinn would go for. I still need to add some color to the sleeves, black lines and maybe even rub this shirt in some dirt to get it a little more authentic. We'll see.

Well, that's all for now. Stay tuned for the next installment of my costume!

- Alex