I love to paint on fabric!
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 …read more

I’d like to try some different printing methods on fabric, but I always thought that screen printing would need too many gadgets or would be too expensive.
Especially when you look at the cost of some of the new printing systems that have just come on the market!

I’ve stuck to my tried-and-true methods of printing on fabric.  Things like stencilling, image transfers or just plain old painting directly onto the fabric itself.  Of course, appliqueing painted motifs also works…
I’m reconsidering my position after reading this great tutorial for DIY screen printing from Craftgrrl.  She’s broken down the process into easy little …read more

There are so many different ways to color fiber – your imagination really is the limit!
I’ve blogged about my various experiments with dyeing and painting fabric before, using everything from traditional fabric dye, onion skins and acrylic paint.  Cyndi has been running a great series on creating your own surface design fabric.
But have you ever thought about using Kool-Aid to dye fabric?
Snow Angels has created some gorgeous yarn using the drink powder.  You’ll never believe some of the colors she’s come up with – they’re so vivid.
I wonder if they would work on wool fabric too…

Are you looking for a fun and easy Mother’s Day craft to do with your kids?
How about combining kids, fabric and paint?
I know that sounds like a messy combination, but it’s a lot of fun – just make sure to cover the table with a cheap, plastic table cloth first!
Either mix acrylic paint with a textile medium, or use fabric paint.  That way the paint will be permanent and your kids won’t lose all their hard work in the washing machine.
Get the kids to paint their palms using inexpensive foam brushes, and then press them onto pre-made canvas totes (of …read more

I’m spending my summer trying to keep kids from getting paint on their shoes – this could be a fun alternative!
Craft Chi has come up with a clever idea to use kid’s sneakers or running shoes as fabric stamps – that sure sounds like a fun summer activity to me
image: Stock.xchg 

I talked yesterday about some different ways to use acrylic paint on fabric.   I showed a piece of fabric that I had stamped on using Golden fluid acrylics & some inexpensive foam stamps.  Here’s what I turned it into:

Making fabric gift bags is a great way to use up your stash, especially if you’re like me and covet Christmas fabric   Using stamps on fabric can turn a plain fabric into a fun seasonal print quickly (it took less than 5 minutes to stamp the gift bag)
I made this gift bag out of a rectangle of fabric 16″ …read more

I was just asked about how to use acrylic paints on fabric and whether or not you can wash them.  Most standard acrylic paints need to have a fabric paint medium added to them.  The medium makes the paints softer when they’re dried and allow you to wash the paint without worrying about washing it out.
You can also go with fabric paints, which have the fabric medium already added.  Commercial fabric paints have the added benefit of stronger colors.  Fabric medium can dilute the pigment, especially if you’re using an inexpensive craft paint.  Both commercial & hand-mixed fabric paints must …read more