When you decide to paint fabric with fabric paint, the most important thing to know is that it’s not meant to be removed. This can be a problem if you make a mistake, as there’s no way to undo it. This is why you should be aware not only of what you’re painting, but everything else you do whilst painting. For example, if you have fabric paint on your hand and you’re painting a t-shirt, you’re likely to transfer the paint from your hand to the shirt. Make sure your fabric painting goes successfully with these tips.
- Make sure to clean your hands frequently, especially in between colours. Residue will be gone from your hands, and you’re less likely to transfer unwanted paint onto your fabric.
- Always complete a sketch of your design before painting it. Sketching the design on a piece of paper before your fabric will help you to see if you actually like it. When you sketch the design lightly on the fabric, it’ll easily be covered by the fabric paint.
- Fabric paints, especially darker paints, will likely bleed through your fabric, so place a piece of cardboard underneath before you start painting.
- By organising everything you need before you start painting, you’ll remain more focused. Make sure you have all your sponges, brushes, stencils and paint colours close by.
- Stencils can make fabric painting a lot easier. To keep the paint from leaking out underneath the stencil, start by applying paint with a sponge.
- Adding a second coat with a brush will give you maximum coverage.
- When waiting for your fabric paint to dry, pay attention to the times stated on the bottle of the fabric paint, even if it seems dry.
- To protect your fabric paint in the washing machine, you will need to heat set it. There are two common ways to heat set fabric paint:
- Hold a hot iron over the painted sections of fabric, but be careful not touch the paint. This method works particularly for ‘3D’ fabric paints.
- Once your fabric has been painted for at least twenty-four hours, turn the fabric inside out and iron over the fabric for around five minutes
If you’re looking to add an extra ‘flare’ to your fabric painting project, you may want to try playing with embellishments. Teaming fabric paint with embroidery, jewels, bows and cloth can be a lot of fun and really help you to make something unique.