Basics of Fabric Painting

How do I begin??

I had a flavor for painting since my childhood, however with the corporate life keeping me on my toes, life was reduced to nothing beyond work, work and loads of work. On one of those mundane laid back days when I needed a break from my workload, I did a little memory brushing trying to figure out what is it that I really love doing.. the first that popped my mind was painting.

I wanted to try out Fabric painting and started browsing the net, looking through the books and articles...... Wohla!!!!! It kept snow-balling from there. What just started off as a laid-back day's pass-time now became a full-fledged hobby. So wanna know how to get started........ Here we goooooooo.......... All you need is a little time and loads of PASSION and rest just fall in place.

Materials Required

• Fabric (for starters use cotton fabric)
• Fabric Paints
• Paint Pallet (to hold and mix paints)
• Painting brush (you could use thin and thicker brushes based on the patterns you like to paint)
• Pencils (to sketch the outline on fabric)
• Fabric Holder/Board
• Fabric Correcter (to erase in case of any corrections required)

Points to Remember:

• For the first few times, use an old cotton t-shirt. I found this extremely handy as it was much easier to use the fabric board and paint when it is a t-shirt.
• Start with sketching just one or two designs and not elaborate sketching. Then paint them. This gives a flavor on how you need to be doing differently and also boosts your morale pepping you up.
• Leave the painted fabric for 24hours so that the paint dries completely
• Next day, Iron the fabric on the other side. This ensures that the paint stays longer
• Every time you are done with using one color, ensure you thoroughly clean the paint brush in water before going for the next color. This way you avoid the colors getting mixed.

Can you paint if you are not good at sketching??

Most often I have my friends and collegues telling me that they love to do something creative by painting their home curtains and little tweeties on their t-shirts, however they are not good at sketching. Well... the Good news is that...you do not need to be upset. You can still paint though you can't sketch. In the market, you get tracing sheets.

All you have to do is... using the tracing sheets, trace your favorite design on the fabric and then paint it with your favorite colors... Now doesn't that make your life simpler???

So just start painting. Its a wonderful way to give your wardrobe different patterns and designs, while giving wings to your creativity and imgination.