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Jeanne
04-21-2004, 10:14 AM
Does anyone have an experience with fabric paint? I am one solid year into looking for a duvet cover that doesn't exist so I thought I'd experiment with making my own. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated!

luvbeinmama
04-21-2004, 06:37 PM
You'd have to be a bit more specific as to what you want. I've done a bunch of t-shirts with writing & stamping the regular craft fabric paint. There is a lot more you can do, too. There is spray on dye, tie dye, regular fabric paint, you can use stencils, stamps, free-hand, etc. So, I don't know what kind of advice you are looking for.

cinrein
04-22-2004, 11:33 AM
I agree that it depends on the fabric and what you are trying to create.

I had a similar problem with curtains for the nursery and ended up painting stars on my own. I ended up buying different fabric paints and trying out the different techniques and colors on some scraps of the curtain fabric that I had. I was new to fabric painting and couldn't have predicted that stenciling would be the best way to get the look I envisioned.

Cindy and Anna 2/11/03

Jeanne
04-22-2004, 11:41 PM
Thanks for responding! I want to paint flowers or some type of our monogram with pattern on a cotton duvet cover. I simply cannot find what I'm looking for anywhere and everything that I've seen is only okay and close to $800. I cannot afford my taste so I thought this might be a good way to get the look I want. The knit is fairly tight and it wouldn't be going through the washer as often as an article of clothing would. I would do a combination of freehand and stenciling. Have you found it easy?

Jeanne
04-22-2004, 11:44 PM
Cindy,
I have only tried stenciling once before but it didn't go well. The paint bled beneath the stencil so I'm somewhat weary of it. Was the fabric paint easier to control or did you have any bleeding of the paint?

luvbeinmama
04-25-2004, 01:41 AM
For the freehand you will want to stabilize the fabric somehow so it doesn't really move around much. Like with the t-shirts I just taped them tight around cardboard. Also, you will want to put plastic behind the fabric to prevent it from sticking to your surface. It releases easily from the plastic. The fabric paint takes up to about 24 hours to really dry completely (longer for big blobs of paint, of course, but you won't have to worry about that). Don't worry about bleeding when stenciling. Fabric paint doesn't bleed in my experience. For stenciling you actually want a pretty dry brush with normal painting, I'd assume the same for fabric paint although I haven't stenciled with the fabric paint myself. Fabric paint is fully washable once dry, so you don't really have to worry about that. I agree with the other poster that you will want to find a scrap of material very close to your cover to practice before actually painting the real thing. Experiment a bit and see what works for you, and then have fun on your cover. Be sure to wash your brushes right away or at least keep them wet until you clean them. The paint is very plastic-y and will a lot will rub off, but I've found it very difficult to remove from brushes that I let sit for a bit. HTH!

cinrein
04-26-2004, 02:41 PM
I did use fabric paint and I only got bleeding underneath the stencil if my stencil was really gunky with paint. I also got the best results using one of those foam sponges that are on a stick--you just dab the area to be painted. I was stenciling small stars onto sheer curtains, so dabbing wasn't a big deal since my stencils were small.

When it did bleed, I was able to wipe it off with a wet sponge and start over once it dried. Again I was painting a sheer fabric, so the paint came right out. Not sure if this would work on a thicker/heavier fabric.

Cindy and Anna 2/11/03

Jeanne
04-26-2004, 02:41 PM
Thank you so much for all the info. I'm going to give it a try in a few weeks. I'll let you know how I did!