Image: sxc,hu

They did their fabric painting using gelatin.  Beth made several pans of colorless gelatin to take with her.

Then they spread paint in various designs and even non-designs over the gelatin and pressed the fabric onto it.  These then dried.  She now has numerous circles of delightful color and design to create with.

At home, she made smaller circles and is doing the same with it, creating numerous colored small circles.

When Beth gets something posted on her blog about this project, I’ll let you know.

Have you ever done this type of fabric painting?  What did you make from it?

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A Fabric Painting Day with Friends

Of course, I can’t leave my camera at home and so I’ve got dozens of photos of lovely plants to use as inspiration.  I find that the “macro” image is the one that interests me the most, so I rarely seem to end up with the whole flower or plant in the frame.

One game I like to play is imagining how I would interpret the photo in fabric, mixed media and fiber.  In fact, I’d like to go through with you and share some of my thoughts on how I’d create a fiber art piece.

Take a look and see how you’d interpret the same image – and please leave a comment if you’d like to share

I love the heavily mottled leaves of these plants – I’d make this one out of hand-dyed fabric and then machine embroider the veins on.  Hand-painting the fabric could be a great challenge too – how about dripping a fluid fabric paint like Dy-Na-Flo to reproduce some of the splotches and mottled colors?

This shot is actually from underneath the plant, with the sun shining from above.  I’d like to try making this one from a single piece of green fabric, but then heavily machine-embroidering all the veins and ribs of the plant on.  As an alternative, I might try using a dry brush method of fabric painting (thicker paint, used sparingly with a dry brush) get the shading and the thicker ribs.

I’ll share more photos and techniques tomorrow!

images: © C Findlay-Harder

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Interpreting Natural Textures in Fabric

For the first two fabric painting techniques, visit these links:
Painting fabric in a bag
Twisted fabric painting

This time, you’ll need the usual ripped or cut piece of plain muslin, acrylic paints, a large soft brush or painting sponge, tape of different widths, and a large stamp or two.

Step by step instructions

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Wiped and striped fabrics

Here is another of the fabrics that I painted a few weeks ago (back when I inexplicably had some time on my hands!).  This one is a little more complex than the last two, but it’s not at all difficult.  To prepare for the tutorial tomorrow, gather up some plain muslin, acrylic paints, a stamp or two if you want, and tape: masking tape, electrical tape, graphic arts tape…anything that’s a bit low tack.  Don’t use duct tape for this project!

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Wiped and striped. Fabric, that is.

Again, you’ll need to rip or cut a piece of plain muslin, gather up the acylic paints that you want to use, and find an old bottle (wine bottles are perfect), some paint brushes, and a rubber band.

Step by step instructions

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Twisted fabric painting

Painting your fabric in a plastic bag is a great technique to choose when you want a surprise: you never know what you’re going to end up with when you let everything swirl around together in a bag. So rip off a length of plain muslin and gather up your acrylic paints, small cups, water, and oh yeah…a gallon sized plastic bag.

Step by step instructions

You can see what I used this piece of cloth for here

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Painting fabric in a bag

I got on a fabric kick recently, and took a couple of days to whip up some painted fabrics that I could use as backgrounds for other projects. Part of the fabric piece shown below ended up as a small beaded quilt.   For the next couple of weeks, I’ll be sharing some fabric painting techniques with you.  To get ready, gather up some plain muslin, acrylic paints (they don’t have to be fabric paints), sponges and brushes, and some stencils or stamps.  Tomorrow, we’ll look at how to paint fabric in a plastic bag!

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Fabrics, fabrics, fabrics

I would use the book for ideals for my end of the year t-shirt for my pre-k class were thinking about tie dye but this book probablly will have more ideals. Thanks for the giveaway

Well, that’s great, Sharon, because YOU’RE THE WINNER!!

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Book winner!

Want to dye and paint your own fabrics, but don’t know where to start?  This is the book for you, with all the beginner information you need on different types of dyes and paints that you can choose from, the minimal tools and equipment that you’ll need, and some wonderful techniques to get you started!

The Basic Guide to Dyeing and Painting Fabric
by Cindy Walter & Jennifer Priestley

There are dozens of inspiring photos for you to drool over, step by step instructions for 20 different techniques, and even some full-sized patterns if you’d like to make the exact fabric projects that are featured.

To win a copy of this book, leave me a comment below telling me what you like to make with fabric, and next week I will draw a winner!

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Book review and giveaway!!

I love painting & printing my own fabric for creating fiber art – it’s so much fun to play around with different techniques and come up with something unique.

I’ve done mono-printing with glass sheets before, but gelatin makes an interesting surface too. All you need to do is mix up some extra-strength gelatin (I think the recommended amount is 4 packages of gelatin to 2 cups of water). Pour it into a large tray and let it set for several days in your fridge to cure.

Calamity Kim takes it from there:

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using jello to print fabric?