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Project of the Month - January 2002

Tips & Techniques Home

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"Wearable Art - Fabric Stamping" January's project of the month is compliments of Stamp Artist Diane Miller. Click Here to see a different approach to this Collage Fabric Stamping technique.

Materials Cotton shirt Foam brushes Masking Tape - (the wider, the better) Paint mixing tray. Rubber Stamp(s) Powdered Pearls ZimPrints Fabric extender - colorless ZimPrints fabric paint - White ZimPrints fabric paint - Black ZimPrints fabric paint - Colors of your choice Dr. Ph. Martin's Ready Tex paints - colors of your choice Hair Dryer See tips, credits and links to more fabric stamping examples at the bottom of this page. Stamp Artist - Diane Miller Figure 1 Directions Before you begin, slip a piece of cardboard into the inside of your garment. This will give you an even surface for stamping and will prevent any paint from leaking through your fabric. 1 - Using torn or straight pieces of masking tape, create a design on the fabric you are going to stamp on. You can create a more deckled look by using torn strips of masking tape. You can create a more even look by using straight pieces of masking tape. In the step-by-step sample show to the right, figure A, I created a scalloped edge by laying masking tape on my cutting mat, and then using a scallop blade for my rotary cutter I was able to cut a uniform, even scallop design.  I was able to easily remove the cut masking tape from my cutting mat and lay it down on my piece of fabric. 2 - Once you have a masked off a pattern that you are happy with, using a foam brush, apply a thin layer of ZimPrints white fabric paint to the entire surface of your masked pattern. See Figure A Make sure the white fabric paint is dry to the touch BEFORE proceeding. To speed the drying time, use a blow dryer. 3 - I usually start applying my fabric paint colors from the top left and work my way down to the lower right hand corner.  Make sure to apply the fabric paint sparingly.  You do not want to "glob" it on. To prevent a "striped" look, use your finger to blend your paints together as you change colors.  This will give you a nice "flow" of blended colors.  See Figure B Once you have your entire masked surface painted with the colors of your choice, make sure fabric paint is dry to the touch BEFORE proceeding.  To speed the drying time, use a blow dryer. 4 - The next step you can do one of two ways.  If you like a more "artsy" look, remove the masking tape from your fabric BEFORE you do any stamping. If you like a more "uniformed" look, DO NOT remove your masking tape. Using a foam brush, apply ZimPrints black fabric paint to your rubber stamp. BEFORE you stamp onto your fabric, stamp your image on a piece of paper. This way you can see how your image will look … did you apply enough fabric paint? Did you apply too much fabric paint? Solid or open large stamp images work best for fabric stamping. In the step-by-step sample shown in Figure C, I used Dr. Ph. Martin's Ready Tex paints. Unlike ZimPrints fabric paints, Ready Text paints are very thin, allowing you to be able apply them with an airbrush.  I applied them with a foam brush, so I mixed each of the Ready Tex colors with ZimPrints colorless fabric extender. It worked like a charm! It is a little more work to do this, but some of the Ready Text colors are so fabulous, it was worth the extra effort!  Once you have all of your images stamped, use your blow dryer and dry completely. 5 - Make sure your fabric paint is dry to the touch BEFORE proceeding. Carefully remove your masking tape to reveal your pattern. See Figure D 6 - Heat-set your fabric paint by ironing your fabric from the backside. Yes, you can launder your fabric, but your will lose "some" of the vibrancy. To keep my wearable art looking like new, I use Dryel laundry sheets in the dryer. Figure A Once you have a masked off pattern that you are happy with, using a foam brush, apply a thin layer of ZimPrints white fabric paint to the entire surface of your masked pattern. Figure B To prevent a "striped" look, as you change colors, use your finger to blend your paints together. This will give you a nice "flow" of color. Figure C Solid or open large stamp images work best for fabric stamping. Figure D Carefully remove masking tape to reveal your pattern. Stamp Artist - Diane Miller Stamp Credits: Images: "Large Dragonfly", "Large Ginkgo Leaf", "Small Night Fan", "Word Stamp - Beauty", "Word Stamp - Artful", "Word Stamp - Color" from Stamp Zia. Fabric Paints: Blue, Purple, Black, Green, Fuschia, White, Turquoise and Colorless Extender from ZimPrints. Powdered Pearls Opals: Gold, Purple, Green, Blue and Red can be mixed with Zimprints colorless Fabric Extender and apply as a glaze OVER a dried fabric paint to achieve a metallic sheen over the color base.   See Figure 1 for a sample of this technique. Powdered Pearls: Crimson, Spring Green, Wisteria, White, Sapphire, Copper, Rose Gold, Lavender Blue, Sunshine Yellow, Plum, Silver, Jade, Carnation Pink, Turquoise, Coral, Peacock Blue, Gold Dust, Orchid, Aqua, Fuchsia, Pearl Dust, and Watermelon Red can be mixed with ZimPrints colorless fabric extender to create fabric paint in your favorite Powdered Pearls colors. See a Metallic Collage Shirt created using this tehcnique here Powdered Pearls can also be added colors of ZimPrints fabric paint for a fantastic metallic finish!   Try adding Sapphire Powdered Pearls to ZimPrints turquoise fabric paint, Powdered Pearls Watermelon Red to ZimPrints red fabric paint or Powdered Pearls Wisteria to ZimPrints Fuschia fabric paint ... WOW! Powdered Pearls: Crimson, Spring Green, Wisteria, White, Sapphire, Copper, Rose Gold, Lavender Blue, Sunshine Yellow, Plum, Silver, Jade, Carnation Pink, Turquoise, Coral, Peacock Blue, Gold Dust, Orchid, Aqua, Fuchsia, Pearl Dust, and Watermelon Red can be mixed with ZimPrints colorless fabric extender to create fabric paint in your favorite Powdered Pearls colors. See sample of this technique here