Now what do I do with it?

It's really up to you what you want to do with your painted fabric once it's finished. The possibilities are endless. You could make it into a handbag, cover a journal with it, use it in a collage, or make a whole cloth quilt from it as I did on Tropical Blooms.

I layered this piece like a traditional quilt and machine quilted it. Once that was done I made a quilt sandwich for the flowers using some other hand painted fabric I had on hand. It is held together with spray basting. Then I cut out individual petals. The edges are gone over with a close zigzag machine stitch. After adding a little stitching detail to each petal they were attached to the quilt by machine at the base. I then scrunched them a little and tacked the tops. This gives it a 3D effect.

The last step was beading the centers of the flowers. I used a fringe stitch to make them stand up. Don't worry, I'll be covering some beading stitches in the future if you don't know how to do it.

 So what's yours going to be?

Painting Fabric Details

Last time I explained how to paint the background on fabric. Now I want to tell you how to add detail.

 The tools are basically the same except I use smaller brushes for painting details. I use the same paints.

 When painting a shape you want to use the paint straight from the bottle or only slightly diluted. You also want to paint on dry fabric. This way your lines will stay sharp. It's the opposite of how you painted the background when you wanted everything to flow and blend together.

 At this point you want to paint in layers. I start with adding interest to the background. I use rubber stamps or anything I can get an interesting shape from to stamp on the fabric. Rather than dipping the stamp into the paint, I brush the paint onto the stamp. You have much more control that way.

From there I start doodling with my paints. On Tropical Blooms I started drawing vines and leaves. Paint like you would paint on anything else. The large close up photo at the top of the page will give you and idea of what I painted. You'll see it's not very sophisticated or detailed. I tend to play and have fun with it.

 When you are finished let it dry thoroughly. Once dry set by following the instructions on the paint.

 Don't let this process intimidate or scare you. It's only inexpensive muslin and a little paint! You only have a dollar or two invested. If you don't like it you can cut it up for something else. Now go try it, I promise it's fun!

Painting Fabric Backgrounds

I shared one of my painted art quilts in the last article. Now I'm going to tell you how to paint fabric. Maybe I should say I'm going to tell you how to paint fabric my way. When it comes to a lot of the stuff I do I don't always obey the rules. What I share here with you is what has worked for me. Your mileage may vary! LOL

 Painting fabric can be messy. Wear old clothes and work on a surface you can easily clean or cover with plastic. I have an old table in the back yard. It's my all purpose outdoor craft spot for things that are too messy for the house. When I'm painting there I have to be sure the dogs aren't under the table or they end up wearing some interesting colors. 

You will need a large spray bottle full of water, inexpensive brushes, disposable containers to mix paint in, a container of water and your paints. I use Setacolor fabric paints. Jacquard also makes nice paints.

You will begin by painting the background. I usually cut the paint by about ½ with water when I'm painting backgrounds. I want the colors to flow and not have hard lines or brush marks. Feel free to mix colors to come up with your own. Once you have colors that you are happy with it's time to paint.

Spread your fabric out on a smooth surface. Spray it well with water, dry fabric grabs the paint and won't let it flow. You may need to keep spraying as you paint if it's drying on you. Now start applying paint. I'm very sloppy at this stage, I overlap, swirl into other colors, whatever. I want interesting things to happen. If you spray an area with water that's already painted it will spot.  Sometime spots are good, try it.

When you're satisfied with your work leave it to dry. Do not hang it, it will run. Just leave it there and go have some chocolate, you deserve it!

Tropical Blooms

To get us started I'm sharing one of my pieces that began at an artist retreat called Focus on Fiber. It was a heavenly week of playing with paint, beads, fiber and good friends.

There was a wet studio available to us where we could be as messy as we wanted. So I spread out a large piece of white muslin and started doodling. This piece of fabric was the result.

Most of this was painted freehand but I did use some rubber stamps to add interest to the background. Scrapbooking isn't the only way you can use your stamps!

The paints were Setacolor fabric paints. They are readily availabe at most major craft stores. You can dilute them with water. Once dry you set the paint with an iron.

The pink flowers are 3 dimensional applique and the centers are hand beaded. They were added after machine quilting.

All of these topics will be covered in more detail in upcoming articles. Now go play!

Welcome to TheCraftyOne

Hi ya'll! I'm excited to get started here at PNN. I love crafting and can't wait to share my craft adventures with you.

I guess a little intro is called for if I expect you to get to know me. I'm a 50 something (sheesh did I just admit that?) woman with a wonderful husband named Steve and two spoiled dogs, Zack and Lola. We are lucky enough to live on the gulf coast of Florida in the panhandle.

Living on the gulf coast is a big influence on my art and crafting endeavors. I'm surrounded by such beauty that I can't help but try to reproduce it when I work.

I work/play in many mediums. My first love is fiber art and art quilting. That lead me into many other areas including beading, collage, kumihimo, scrapbooking, knitting, crochet and more!

Come back often and see what I'm up to next.

Featured Craft

The piece shown below is hand painted on a single piece of cloth. It was machine quilted and includes hand beading.