How To Paint On Fabric And Textiles

Fabric painting is an art that you will enjoy doing. Through fabric painting, you can provoke the creative artistic side of yours! There are incredible benefits of fabric painting, you can customize old bedsheets, cushion covers, and even your T-shirts by creating elegant designs on them with simple techniques that everyone can do.

In this article, I’ve mentioned all the supplies and an easy step by step guide that will help you create beautiful designs on fabric 

Supplies for getting started with fabric painting

If you are a beginner then you don’t need to spend too much on buying supplies. To start with fabric paint you will just need primary colors like red, yellow, and blue, some basic brushes, cardboard to separate the two layers of the cloth, some tissues to wipe, and two to three cups of water and that’s all you will need to start with your creative journey! But if you are a stationery lover like me and want to buy some more cool stuff then keep reading!

Brushes

Flat Brushes: This brush is most commonly used in fabric painting. It is also known by the name ‘Shader Brush’. It is mostly used for highlighting, shading, and blending.

Round Tip Brush: This brush has more organized bristles and that’s why it is used for detailing.

Liner Brush: It is used for making lines.

Foam Brush: This brush is used on a large surface area. It is mostly used for applying the basic layer of color. It comes with a wooden handle.

Outliners Filled With Paint: These are used for making a 3D painting but it does not help make liquid embroidery on the garments. This brush is mostly used for glass painting

Permanent Markers: These are used for making outlines. 

Soft Brushes: These brushes help in giving the paint a watercolor effect

Scrubber brushes: These are made of tapered bristles. They are perfect for blending color and for creating short and rough strokes.

Stamps: These are already made designs, you just need to dip them in paints and apply it on your favorite piece of cloth. 

Sponges: These are great absorbents, and therefore can be used for applying paints other than this, dip pens, airbrushes can be used for fabric painting. And yeah! The tip is ‘Always clean your brushes after completing your artwork’  otherwise you will soon lose the soft bristles of your favorite brushes!

Paints

The first question that comes to our mind while painting on fabric is what type of color should we use for it? So here is the answer: Mostly acrylic fabric paints are used to paint on fabric. They can be used separately or we can also mix them with fabric medium. Fabric medium is an opaque and thick fluid and after applying it to fabric cloth, when it dries off it gets transparent or colorless. It can also be used with acrylic paints or textiles paints to give a watercolor effect without causing the fading or changing of the color. Another benefit of the fabric medium is that it doesn’t cause bleeding and spreading of the paint.

We can also use ordinary acrylic paints by mixing them with fabric medium. Fabric medium gives the paint a flexible look otherwise if we use the acrylic paints separately, it cracks and peel off when it dries. To make this mixture you have to add one part of fabric medium and two parts of any acrylic paint, after adding just mix them properly and your paint is ready! If you don’t like the glossy appearance of your paint, then you can mix Matte Medium with acrylic paint to give it a matte appearance. To give a watercolor appearance to your paint, you just have to mix water with acrylic paint on a ratio of 5:1. There is a Gel medium available if you want to give a glossy appearance to your painting. It is a non-yellowing protective coating which protects the paint from water and UV-rays.

Always read the instructions!

Make sure you always read the instructions on the fabric paint pot before you start with your painting and try to swatch the paints on a piece of cloth before applying it to the actual fabric because many fabric paints dry 24 hours after applying it and some paints need to heat set or iron them before washing.

Read more about Fabric Painting