Fabric Painting: An Easy DIY Technique - Quilting Daily

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Fabric painting is a fun way to create your own distinctive fabrics for quilting and mixed-media fiber art.

In the 2011/12 issue of International Quilt Festival/Quilt Scene, Bonita Rose Kempenich showed this very easy technique for how to paint fabric. If you do any kind of surface design or mixed-media art, you probably already have most of the supplies you need.

DIY Fabric Design

Materials

Natural or white muslin, or canvas/duck cloth (such as 200 thread count muslin)
Rotary cutter, ruler, and mat
Canvas drop cloth
Plastic paint palette
Artists’ paintbrushes
Liquitex® acrylic inks in assorted colors
Newsprint
Iron and ironing surface

Optional

Tulip® fabric paints
Self-adhesive craft foam sheets
Foam stamps
Acrylic paints, assorted colors

Directions

1. Measure and cut the muslin or canvas to your preferred working size. (Pieces that range from a fat quarter up to a yard are easy to work with.)

2. Cover your work surface with a canvas drop cloth and place your fabric on top to begin painting.

3. Using the plastic painter’s palette, select your acrylic ink colors and add a few drops in each well.

4. Wet your brush in clean water, then dip it into the ink and start to play. You can draw flowers, circles, geometric shapes-anything goes, even writing on fabric.

5. When the color starts to fade, dip your brush back into the ink and continue to create. Repeat this process with as many different colors of ink as you like.

6. When you’ve finished designing your fabric, let it dry. Once dry, place some newsprint on your ironing board and place your painted fabric facedown. Using a low heat, iron the back side of your fabric, making sure the ink doesn’t get on your ironing board and is caught on the newsprint instead. Press flat.

Note: If you are creating a piece that isn’t to be worn or washed, and is just a mixed-media piece, feel free to use acrylic paints or fabric paints in addition to the ink.

You could use this technique for painting on fabric in any number of ways, from creating your own quilting fabric to designing fabric for home décor, accessories, and items like journal covers.

There are many quick and easy techniques and projects like this one in the pages of International Quilt Festival: Quilt Scene. They are as varied as quilters and quilt projects and products you see if you were actually on the quilt show floor.

If you’ve missed our previous issues, Quilt Scenes from 2009-2011 are available in an economical and space-saving collection CD you can download now.