Use Fabric Paint to Revamp Plain Fabric

Got some plain old fabric in your stash that needs a little love? Check out these fabric paint techniques to give it a little more pizazz!

One downside to using reclaimed fabric is that your design is often driven by what’s available. Sometimes that’s a fun challenge, but sometimes you just want what you want, right? That’s where fabric paint comes in!

The fabrics that work best with fabric paints are either solid or have a print that’s pretty faded, and you’re best off with a natural fiber like cotton, though a cotton-poly blend tends to take fabric paint well. Most of the fabric paint I’ve come across doesn’t work well on nylon or oil cloth, so you might want to go with other sorts of customizations – like applique – for those synthetics

1. Screen Printing with Fabric Paint

Screen printing is a lot of fun and a great way to get custom designs onto your fabric of choice. If you’ve never screen printed before, Jackie rounded up some great beginner tips, including ways to reduce the amount of waste you generate in the screen printing process.

2. Block Printing with a Potato

If you’re looking for a repeated design, block printing is the way to go. Sure, you can order rubber blocks online, but they can be a little bit pricey and contain petroleum products. Instead, try using a plain old potato to create your stamp! Think potato stamping is just for kindergarteners? Check out our modern potato printing tutorial!

3. Freezer Paper Stencil

Not into all of the equipment that you need to screen print? Freezer paper stenciling is a great alternative! You can still get those clean lines that you get with a screen, but all that you need is – you guessed it – freezer paper. Julie shows you how she used freezer paper stencils and fabric paint to customize a necktie, but you could also use this method to make custom bags, place mats, t-shirts, or really to pep up any fabric project that you’re working on.

4. Reverse Stencil

This method is best for smaller projects, like fabric accessories. Instead of painting the inside of the stencil, you use your stencil to block off the shape and paint everything else. For more, check out how I used this reverse stencil method to make a customized neon hair clip from vintage fabric.

What are your favorite ways to incorporate fabric paint into your craft projects? Tell us in the comments!