I do everything from painting my own art quilts to teach five year olds how to paint their own design on a t-shirt.

But do I necessarily use the same fabric paint for every project?

Of course not!

There are lots of different fabric paints on the market these days.  You can find everything from inexpensive squeeze bottles of puffy paint to high-end designer paints that can cost more than a meal.  I recommend playing around with different products to see what you like the best.

And don’t forget that by mixing in a fabric paint or textile medium into standard acrylic paint you’ve turned it into a permanent fabric paint.  The medium makes the acrylic paint dry to a softer hand and after you heat set it (according to the bottle instructions) it’s permanent and washable.

I quite often use a textile medium mixed with Golden fluid acrylics for my own art quilts.   It gives you lovely, rich colors and blends nicely on the fabric.

For kids t-shirts you can definitely go with a less expensive paint however   I’ve had quite good results using a student-quality acrylic paint, mixed with medium, for kids projects.

As with any paint on fabric, make sure to use a thin layer – it doesn’t dry well if you leave clumps of paint…

image: Stock.xchg

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Tips & Tricks for Painting on Fabric

Stock.xchg

But not everything is actually meant to work on fabric.  Some products look amazing, but will wash out – even if you’re only dabbing the surface with a damp cloth.

Unfortunately, pencil crayons are one of those things – I love the way they look on canvas, but they can smudge and run if you’re not careful.  Generally, the fiber art I create isn’t meant to be washed at all anyhow, so I haven’t worried a lot about it, but what if you want to protect your work?

Fiber artist Sandra Leichner has come up with a very clever way to keep the look of pencil crayons on fabric but keep them from smudging.  Her method – textile extender!

Textile extender is meant to thin out paints for airbrushing or to replicate the look of water color paints, but in this case it seals the pigment – and makes it safe.

I wouldn’t try and use this on garments that are going to get a lot of washing, but for an item that will be lightly handled, it’s great.

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Pencil Crayons on Fabric?

image: © C Findlay-Harder

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how-to of the day: painting on fabric – cloudy skies – salting the paint

image: © C Findlay-Harder

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how-to of the day: painting on fabric – cloudy skies, part three

image: © C Findlay-Harder

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how-to of the day: painting on fabric – cloudy skies, part two

image: © C Findlay-Harder

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how-to of the day: painting on fabric – cloudy skies