Fabric Painting Instructions
Chances are what brought you to this page is a love of color, patterns, and a desire to be creative with fabrics in your home and wardrobe. At Dharma Trading Co. you will find a wonderful selection of products that will allow you to create original designs with fabric paints and dyes on an incredible selection of fabrics, clothing and accessory blanks. Even the simplest design can transform a white scarf or pillow cover into a beautiful one-of-a-kind original!
Dyes vs. Paints
There are two basic categories of colorants for fabrics: dyes and paints.
Dharma's fabric dyes are for natural fibers (cellulose and proteins such as cottons, rayons, hemps, tencels, silks, wools, feathers, etc.) — and one of our dyes will actually dye nylon as well. Dyes produce more brilliant colors than paints and require chemicals or steaming to set. They chemically bond with the fibers and leave no stiffness on the fabric whatsoever. They are more complex to work with than fabric paints and call for more caution in handling — a dust mask, rubber gloves, and proper ventilation are recommended. See our full selection of fabric dyes.
Dharma's fabric paints are pigments suspended in an acrylic medium. They can be used on all natural fibers and most synthetics, and are heat-set with an iron to make them permanent. We also carry a no-heat fixative by Versatex which eliminates the need for iron heat-setting, but requires 4–6 days for curing. Fabric paints lay on top of the fibers and stiffen the fabric somewhat — less noticeable on heavier fabrics than on lighter ones. See our full selection of fabric paints.
Controlling the Flow of Color
When you place a paintbrush loaded with dye or flowable/diluted paint onto fabric, you will see the color move and spread. It spreads more on lighter fabrics like silk than on heavier ones like cotton duck. Sometimes this isn't the effect you're looking for! There are a few ways to control the flow of color:
- Guttas, water-soluble resists, or wax are used when distinct graphics or designs are desired. They can be painted, stamped, or applied with an applicator bottle and thin tip. Once dry, the resist creates a barrier that contains and blocks the color. It is removed after the piece has been painted and properly set, leaving the original fabric color in those areas. See our many guttas, resists and waxes. Resist techniques are often used when painting on silk — learn more about Silk Painting.
- Stop-flow, no-flow primers and anti-fusants coat the fabric so the dye or paint stays exactly where you put it, making the surface behave more like paper than fabric. You set your dyes or paints appropriately, then wash the primer out. Be sure to use the stop-flow product appropriate for your colorant — there are different ones for dyes and paints.
- Thickened dyes can be made to behave like paints and are ideal for direct application techniques such as stamping, printing and silk screening. Dharma carries two thickener products for fabric dyes: Sodium Alginate, a natural product derived from seaweed, and Superclear, a synthetic thickener. Fabric paint can be thickened with Setacolor thickener, and Dharma's Pigment Dye can be thickened with the Pigment Dye Thickener. Always use the thickener appropriate to your dye or paint.
Techniques & Materials
We recommend starting simple! The basic supplies you'll need are the dye or paint, some fabric or clothing to paint on, and brushes, sponges or stamps to apply your color. Working with fabric paints rather than dyes is a great place for beginners to start. Cotton print cloth or bleached muslin are nice fabrics to practice on — a great first project might be decorating a T-shirt, painting a scarf, or stamping on a tote bag.
Wonderful pieces can be created with simply a paintbrush and a jar of paint, but you may want to explore other ways of patterning and coloring fabric. Here are some techniques to get you started:
- Batik — melted wax is applied to fabric to act as a resist. Dyes or paints seep into the cracked wax resulting in beautiful crackled effects.
- Silk Painting — dyes or paints are applied to stretched silk, often after guttas or resists have been applied. Beautiful watercolor-like effects can be achieved and enhanced with salt, watermarks and alcohol.
- Marbling — paints are dropped onto a prepared bath that allows colors to float on the surface, moved into swirls and patterns, then fabric is laid on the surface to pick up the design.
- Stamping — paint is applied to a carved or cut shape and pressed onto the fabric surface.
- Screen Printing (Silk Screening) — ink is pressed through a stencil on a fine mesh screen using a squeegee to print onto fabric.
- Sun Painting — diluted Setacolor paints are washed onto fabric, an object (leaf, lace, etc.) is placed on top of the wet paint, and the piece is placed in direct sunlight or under a lamp. When dry, the object is removed revealing a white resist beneath.
- Tie-Dye — fabric is tied with cord or bands before dye or paint is applied. The banded areas resist the color, resulting in interesting patterns.
We have lots of starter kits to get you going, from tie-dye to sun painting, as well as paint sets and mini-sets for sampling a variety of colors within a single paint line.
Books
We have a fabulous book selection for inspiration and instruction. If you're not sure which direction to go, an overall book covering a variety of techniques — like Jane Dunnewold's Complex Cloth — will give you plenty of ideas.
