Lesson 4: Stenciling on Fabric - Supplies
If you have been to any crafts shows lately you may have noticed that hand painted clothing is getting more and more popular - and commanding high prices. Some times that painting is fairly simple - lots of gold stars and spirals - but often it is more complex - beautiful flowers, animals, etc. Many crafts people do it freehand - but with a stencil and the right paint anyone can produce beautiful hand painted clothing.
The photo you see here is of what was once a very simple, bias cut ivory rayon shift. I found a cardboard box that was just the right size for me to stretch the hem over, sprayed the box with a bit of spray adhesive so the fabric wouldn't slip, and started stenciling away. In no time at all I had a designer original.
And don't stop there. Any surface not already covered in print is fair game for your stencils and paint. Curtains, pillows, bedspreads and tablecloths, scarves - maybe your winter coat. Or how about that blouse that you loved until you spattered paint on it. Stencil over the spatters and you have an even better blouse!
And for those of you who are dying to decorate but live in a rental place - you can create "wallpaper" borders (or whole murals) on fabric then apply it to the wall using liquid starch instead of wallpaper paste. It will adhere beautifully and won't hurt the wall. And when it's time to move you can peel it off and take it with you. Just coat the wall and use tacks or pins to hold the fabric in place until the starch dries.
So fabric stenciling is not only a way to personalize your home and clothing - it can also salvage what may have seemed unsalvageable.
In this lesson, we'll look at the basic materials you need for stenciling textiles and the effects that these can give you.
Basic Equipment - The Big Stuff
Technically, the first piece of equipment you need to begin textile stenciling is a washing machine - unless you are stenciling something that you've already washed. Fabrics tend to come with sizing on them, and that sizing repels paint. So if the piece isn't washed before you begin to paint, you'll lose part of your work should you ever need to wash it.
You'll also need an iron, because most fabric paints require heat setting, which means you go over your stenciling with an iron. This simply means ironing over the painted areas with the iron on its highest setting for about 5 minutes. Iron on the reverse of the painted side, and use a pressing cloth. Don't use steam, and keep the iron moving constantly so that you don't scorch anything.
Your alternative is a clothes dryer if your fabric won't shrink Use your highest setting and let dry for 60-90 minutes. Another possibility is to loosely roll fabric between layers of unprinted newsprint and place in a dry oven for 2 to 3 minutes at 350oF (180oC). If you are painting canvas shoes, where none of these methods are practical, wait for a couple of bright, hot, sunny days and leave them out in the sun.
So you will need either an iron, a clothes dryer or an oven to preserve your work. But you won't need these for at least a week after you have finished painting. You want the paint to cure - to become one with the fabric as much as possible.
Your Work Surface
Unlike the walls and hard surfaces that you've worked with, cloth is absorbent. Paint will go right through it. It is also fluid - it can move and wrinkle and stretch. So it is important for you to have a good, hard work surface. I did my first fabric stenciling - a border around the hem of a dress - by stretching the hem around a big cardboard box. I found that to be the easiest way to make sure that I was spacing the pattern properly, since it was an intricate pattern and running out of space in the middle of a run could have been a disaster. But normally you can use a regular table, although will want to protect it with cardboard or some other non-absorbent material.
I keep sheets of heavy cardboard around just for textile work. If I am using my husband's lovingly hand crafted kitchen table I know the cardboard will protect it. But better still, the cardboard will help me to position the fabric and hold it in place while I work. I spray it with stencil adhesive and then put the fabric down over it. This minimizes the possibility that the fabric will move and spoil my design.
If you are doing something relatively small, you can use an embroidery hoop to hold the fabric taut. I'd still put a protective layer over my table, but I know the area to be painted will be held firm by the hoops.
Before we get into this more deeply, I should mention a great source for any and all supplies you may need for fabric stenciling and painting. I stumbled on Dharma Trading Company when I decided that I wanted to try my hand at Devore (burned out velvet) and they were the only source for the fabric etching cream that I could find. Since then I have found them to be an excellent source for any supply I needed. Good prices and an extremely educational web site. Ask for the print catalog, as it's well worth keeping just for the hints, tips and projects you'll find along with the product listings.
