Fabric Painting Made Simple

I LOVE fabric painting! It (to me) is more controlable than dyes, what you see is what you get, and is also less mess with no face mask necessary. The other plus for fabric painting is that you have 2 different sides to the fabric. I tend to usually like the "wrong" side of the fabric best because it is a little lighter in intensity and details.

Patricia asked the question about good books to learn fabric painting techniques. There are lots of great books out there on painting fabrics; it seems to really be growing in popularity. Here are the ones I have used. I have had these for quite a while, so whether they are still in print or not I do not know.

"Off-the-Shelf Fabric Painting", by Sue Beevers. Subtitled "30 Simple Recipes for Gourmet Results". A very good book with step-by-step procedures. I used this book when I taught fabric painting at the not-so-local quilt shop. Publisher: C & T Publishing

"Fabric Painting, a Simple Approach" by Ginny Eckley. Another GREAT book with tons of information, patterns, and a great gallery of painted fabrics and projects. Publisher: Martingale & Co.

My favorite fabric to paint on is 200 thread count white fabric. I don't usually get the PFD (prepared for dying) fabric because the thread count is not as nice as the 200 thread count. When you are done painting on the 200 stuff your fabrics LOOKS like commercial batiks. Now that is impressive!!! HOWEVER, I can now order the PFD wholesale, so that may be what I use once my supply of 200 count is gone.

Type of fabric paints: I like to use the Setacolor Textile Paints, transparent. I also have some of the Shimmer paints... very nice addition to fabric that didn't quite turn out the way you wanted.... just paint some sparkle on it and it will look fabulous anyway! I have never used the opaque paints so I have no experience with them. The transparent Setacolor can also be used for sun printing, which is another really neat technique.

Source of paints: Two places that I have ordered from are: Pro Chemical & Dye (they have GREAT customer service and a very nice selection of supplies), and Dharma Trading Co. (another great company to work with, they have a larger selection of supplies. ANYTHING for painting or dying, they've got it!)

I hope to be doing a little fabric painting the later part of this week and I will take some pictures to post. I was going to post pics of some of the things I have previously painted, but that means I have to FIND THEM... cleaning out my quilting and office/sewing rooms are on my list to be done this week, also (IF I can tear myself away from the really beautiful fabric basket I am working on).

SHAMELESS PLUG: Don't forget to sign up for my drawing on the July 2 post... you could win 1 yard of painted fabric plus other goodies.

Feel free to ask any questions you may have and I will try to answer them.

Kat