Painting fabric with fabric paint: How it's done

Painting fabric with fabric paint - this way you can create custom fabrics! In this post you will learn how it works and what you should consider when painting fabric.

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Maybe you have already seen the cool hand-painted fabric in my tutorial for a cosmetic bag in 15 minutes? It is an effort that is absolutely worth it, I think! Otherwise, painting fabric is also a nice project for a children's birthday party - if you have a white T-shirt (or e.g. a gym bag, a cotton bag or a pencil case) for every guest, the children can simply paint their own party favors! Learn in this post how you can easily paint great fabrics yourself!

Painting fabric with fabric paint: How does it work?

You can paint both woven fabrics (such as cotton poplin, canvas or denim) and knitted fabrics like jersey or sweatshirt fabric with fabric paints. White or light solid-colored fabrics are best suited. I used white cotton fabric^* and think that the colors stand out very beautifully here. First, wash the fabric you want to paint and iron it. When washing, you should avoid fabric softener. If you already know what you want to make it into, you can reinforce the back of the fabric, for example with an iron-on interfacing. For fine fabrics, it is a good idea depending on the sewing project to reinforce the fabric with Vlieseline H250^* , as it keeps the fabric stable while painting. Place the fabric on a firm surface that you protect with plastic wrap and/or newspaper. Some fabric paints bleed through. Now you can get started. With some fabric paints, you can paint the fabric very easily, as if you were painting on paper with felt-tip pens. This is super easy and suitable for beginners because the colors do not run. I worked with these pens^* and think the result is totally cute: ^* After painting, the fabric should dry for 24 hours. Then, the fabric is ironed from the right side at a cotton setting (3 dots) without steam. Now it is ready to be further processed.  

Painting fabric with liquid textile paints

I painted a second cotton fabric^* using a combination of the pens and liquid textile paint. The liquid paint is more intense and penetrates more into the fabric. Because I like the result so much, I immediately ordered another set with more colors. These colors^* also work on other materials such as ceramics, wood, or glass. ^* You should note that because of its gel-like consistency, this paint takes longer to dry. Before drying, the colors can be further embellished with sprinkles or glitter! I found a glitter paint set^* that goes perfectly with my new textile paints. A dream, right? ^* For my fabric it took around 3 days (with a heavy application of paint) to dry completely. You can paint either directly with the tip or with your fingers or a brush - entirely up to you! After drying, the fabric is also ironed for 3 minutes on the cotton setting (depending on the manufacturer's instructions!). The heat of the iron seals the paint and makes it washable. Instead of ironing the fabric, you can also set it in the oven at 150 degrees for 8 minutes. I simply love my self-designed fabric!

Can you wash the hand-painted fabric?

Yes, you can! At 40 degrees, without fabric softener, inside out!

What can you sew with the hand-painted fabric?

For example, my super-fast cosmetic bag! ;) Happy simple sewing, your Sabine