Lesson 4: Stenciling on Fabric - Supplies
Paints and Dyes for Fabrics
There are all kinds of paints, dyes and other media that can be used for textile stenciling, many of which can give you interesting effects that weren't possible in standard hard-surfaced stenciling. It's fun to investigate all the options, and it can help you to create a very distinctive look and style for your projects if you are aware of all the different possibilities for painting.
Dyes
Dye literally does become a part of the fabric and so will not wash out when laundered.
It can be brushed on just like stencil paint, and will be somewhat transparent in effect. It is somewhat runny, however, and so you need to be careful when applying it.
Fabrics stenciled with dye first need to be soaked overnight in a mordent - a mix of hot water, alum and tin. After it is dried it is ready to accept dye. The mordent as well as the dye itself can be caustic, and so you need to wear rubber gloved when working with it. However dyes will work where paint will not - as on fabrics such as alpaca, wool, nylon and cashmere.
Dye-na Flow is a fabric paint that acts like a dye and can be used on all of these materials as well. It does not need a mordent, but does need to be heat set. It will bond with the fabric in the same way that dye does, so that it literally becomes a part of it as opposed to sitting on the surface as most paints do.
Paint
If you have a big collection of acrylic paints from your hard surface stenciling projects, then you don't really need to spend a lot of money on fabric paints. Most companies who make those paints also sell a fabric medium which, when blended with the paint will make it absorb into the fabric more readily. So you can get started without making a huge investment in new paints.
However, paints formulated especially for fabrics have one advantage. They do not dry stiffly but actually seem to become a part of the fabric. Most of these will need to be heat set before they actually do bond with the textile, although not every brand requires this. But if you plan on wearing your artwork softer is better than having stiff areas all over your garment. The best paints for fabric stenciling are crèmes, acrylics, and fabric paints, with fabric paint being the best choice. Crèmes can be used straight from the container.
Acrylic paints need to be mixed with "fabric medium" in a 1:1 ratio, drop-for-drop, and well blended.
Fabric paints require no mixing, are a thick consistency and richest in pigmentation, and give long-lasting results. But for textile art, painting on items like shoes and canvas tote bags, aprons and other such items you may not mind a bit of stiffness.
Stencil crèmes are probably the next best choice, as they also do not stiffen. They do need to be heat set, however. My only reluctance in choosing the crèmes is that they need to be "scrubbed" into the fabric, or else you spend a lot of time pouncing, which can get tiring. Scrubbing in the paint means you may be moving it or slightly stretching it. However, it gives a nice, translucent effect.
Paints for fabric come in opaque and transparent forms. Transparent is great for creating shading, as you can lay one color or shade over another and still see the underlying color if you start with a dark shade. But transparent also means that the color of your stenciling will be affected by the underlying color of the fabric. Blue transparent paint on yellow fabric will appear green, for instance.
Opaque paints are just like the acrylics we are accustomed to. They are almost your only option if you are painting on dark fabric, as the transparent paints literally disappear. You can create a semi-opaque to opaque color by blending white paint into transparent paints - but this means you are limited to pastel colors. If you're painting on black that may not be all bad, since navy and purple won't show up well in their darker forms anyway.
Whichever you choose, you will find that you not only have a huge selection of colors, but also of effects - from metallic to pearlized, fluorescent, glittery and more.
Special Paints
When it comes to fabric there are several special effects paints that may enhance your work. There are also non-liquid paints and dyes.
- Puffy paint literally puffs up a bit when heat is applied, giving your stencil a dimensional effect.
- Dimensional paint also creates a raised effect but doesn't need the heat application to achieve it. It is great for outlining. This paint is also a good choice if you want to embed small gems or other things into your work, as it acts as a sort of adhesive. Dimensional paint isn't very flexible, so you have to adapt your technique to accommodate it. Instead of drawing long, straight lines with it, every few inches you need to lift the tip and then start again a hairline away from where you stopped to create a flex point. This is not a brush on paint, but one that is applied from the tube through a tiny hole in the plastic cap. It is primarily for outlining.
- Glow in the Dark paint does exactly what it says, once the painted area has been exposed to a strong light for a while. Some of these paints are colorless and can be painted over already colored areas, whereas others come in bright fluorescent colors that are very visible.
- Fabric crayons are actually more like oil based pastels. These are ideal for projects where a more liquid paint might run and spoil the design. They are self-sealing and permanent, meaning that they do not need to be heat set. However, they look like what they are - crayon marks - when applied to fabric. Not for sophisticated projects. NOTE: Don't confuse these with the fabric crayons that are designed to allow you to transfer a pattern from paper to fabric to paint freehand. These are certainly another option for creating personalized effects on fabric, but they are not stenciling.
- Fabric markers are felt tipped pens filled with fabric dye. These are great for outlining, as well as detail work and shading. Some paint pens are double-ended, with a light shade of the color on one end and a deeper shade on the other.
- Ballpoint paint tubes are little tubes of paint with a nozzle that imitates a ballpoint pen. These are useful to create fine lines, outlines and other situations where tight details are needed. They are even available in glitter colors.
- Liquid embroidery comes in a similar tube. The lines are raised, imitating embroidery. This is actually more of a drawing than a painting tool, but may come in handy where a raised outline is desirable. Some brands of liquid embroidery need to be heat treated before they assume their dimensions.
- Color spray allows you to create a water color effect on your project, like the one on this shirt. Use it dry for one effect, or moisten the fabric for one more like actual water coloring. When sprayed on crumpled fabrics it creates interesting design possibilities.
- Photosensitive paint changes when exposed to sunlight. Theoretically you could paint an item with this paint, lay a semi-opaque or opaque stencil over it and expose it to the sun. Your design will emerge when you bring it out of the light, without your having had to lay a hand on a paintbrush. More often these are used negatively, laying objects such as leaves, feathers or lace on the paint in an interesting design and then exposing it to sun. This can also be used to do an easy form of tie dying.NOTE: Setacolor by Pebeo makes a transparent paint that can be used like any regular fabric paint. But spray or sponge it onto a fabric and lay leaves, etc. on it and it also is photosensitive. So why buy special paint when this type can do both jobs?
- Stretch Fabric paint Most fabric paint is generally best used on plain woven fabrics - preferably those with natural fibers. But Jones Tones is paint specially formulated for those times when you really want to spruceup lycra, nylon - even your panty hose! And it's dry cleanable when set.
Media
As with regular acrylics, there are all types of media available to change the characteristics of your basic paint. Some will change the texture, or the workability time, some will make it easier to blend paints, and some will change the finish to make it matte or glossy.
Sometimes you may want a special effect for only a portion of your work. In this case, buying an entire jar of paint is wasteful when you can simply mix a regular color with the appropriate medium to achieve that effect more thriftily.
- Fabric medium, as mentioned above, is only needed if you want to use regular acrylic paint instead of fabric paint. It will help the paint to be absorbed into the fabric instead of sitting atop it, creating a stiff effect and increasing the probability that the paint will flake off.
- Airbrush medium thins paint and makes a transparent paint suitable for airbrushing.
- Flow Enhancer will increase your ability to blend different color into each other. This can be important if you want a natural, shaded effect.
- Gloss and Matte media are added to the basic paint to give it a different finish. Gloss medium also increases the transparency of your paint.
- Iridescent or pearlizing medium will give your paint an iridescent, metallic or pearl finish when mixed with it.
- Retarders will slow down the drying time for paint. This gives you the chance to manipulate the paint, shading colors so that they blend unnoticeably, or even doing special effects like combing or marbling.
- Blending medium will create translucent colors when added to fabric paint. This also enhances shading and highlighting.
- Glow in the Dark media will make fabrics glow in the dark once they have been exposed to a bright light for a period of time. This medium only works with light colored paints. The darker the paint the more light is absorbed rather than reflected.
- "Fixer" is a medium that can be added to fabrics when it isn't practical to heat set them. This will make the fabric somewhat resistant to laundering, but it is not as effective as heat-setting for garments that are likely to be worn and washed a lot.
- "No Heat" Fixative will allow you to paint on fabrics that would be difficult to heat set. Use this for fabric shoes or fabrics that don't take kindly to the drier or other heat sources. You just have to let it sit on the for 4-6 days before washing.
- Finishing metallics are brushed over an already painted area to add a silver or gold shimmer to the underlying color.
- Thickener does exactly that - thickens your paint. When bleeding is a problem, or with very liquid paints this can be an extremely useful medium to have on hand.
- Puff medium can be added to regular fabric paint to give it a dimensional effect, and is generally more cost effective than buying a set of puffy paints in addition to your regular paint colors.
So, as you can see, your options for creating interesting effects with just stencils, paint and media and a piece of fabric are almost limitless. We'll take a look at actually applying paint to fabric in the next lesson.
