Very few art or craft activities offer more opportunities for creative expression than painting on fabric, especially for wearable art. The textile paints formulated today are available in a wide array of brilliant colors; they’re also water-based, nontoxic and perfectly safe for even young children to use under adult supervision. And children love to paint on fabric. If you’re stumped for ideas, just bring in your kids (or borrow a neighbor’s child!) and set them loose in the studio. Soon you’ll have yards of beautiful, handpainted fabric to use in your next art-to-wear project.

CHOOSING & PREPARING FABRICS
You can paint on just about any textile, and experimentation with various materials is always encouraged, but here are some suggestions for selecting fabrics to paint:

For the smoothest application of paint, choose tightly woven materials. For looser applications, wetinto- wet techniques, or painted designs that don’t require precise designs, loosely woven fabrics (with warp and weft threads clearly visible) are perfectly acceptable.

Some artists prefer to paint on silk, while others favor quilter’s quality muslin or 100-percent cotton with a high thread count. Still others like to paint on velvet, rayon, polyester, and other materials. The choice is really up to you.

Try obtaining samples of different textiles in various weights and thread counts to make a swatch notebook. Mail-order fabric-supply companies will often provide these swatches free or for a nominal fee. Apply paint to the swatches and store them dry in a notebook where you can also note how much of what type of paint was applied to each swatch.

If you’re just getting started, try using 100-percent cotton fabric with a high thread count, and expand your horizons from there. And remember that many painting techniques are suitable for dark or black fabrics, as well as white.

To prepare cotton or muslin fabric, you may prewash it in hot water and dry it on the hottest setting to remove any sizing on the fabric and to pre-shrink it— or you may choose not to pre-wash at all. It’s entirely up to you.

Silks must be treated differently and it is advisable to consult an expert before pre-washing; discuss this with the storeowner where you purchased your fabric or with mail-order fabric-supply companies, which are often staffed by knowledgeable fabric artists.

CHOOSING PAINTS
The sheer number of waterbased paints suitable for fabric painting can be overwhelming to the beginning artist. There are sheer, translucent paints, opaque paints, metallic, interference and pearlescent paints, acrylic paints and paints formulated specifically for textiles. And if you can’t find textile paint in the color of your choice, you can always mix a little textile medium in any acrylic to create textile paint.

Acrylics are available in jars, tubes, and bottles; they can be mixed to create new colors or diluted with water or with acrylic or textile mediums. Applied straight to fabric they will dry stiff, so I recommend mixing in a little textile medium first to create a paint that will dry with a soft finish.

Textile paints are made specifically for fabric painting (although they can be applied to other surfaces as well). If you’re just getting started, I recommend trying textile paint. Jacquard’s Textile, Neopaque, and umiere paints are excellent choices for beginners and professionals alike, as is Dr. Ph. Martin’s ReadyTex paint.

For “on the surface” 3-dimensional techniques, applicator-tipped paints such as Tulip, Plaid and Jones Tones are fantastic.

PAINTING TOOLS & EQUIPMENT
You really don’t need lots of expensive tools or equipment for fabric painting—in a pinch you can even finger-paint! But it is helpful to have at hand a few tools for experimentation.

• Paintbrushes: both flat and round-tip, in various sizes
• Foam brushes: inexpensive, for smoothest application
• Sponges: manmade and sea sponges
• Toothbrushes: for spattering on paint
• Plastic buckets: for rinsing out brushes and sponges as you work
• Plastic covering: to protect the work surface
• Apron: to protect your clothing
• Plastic or Styrofoam plates: for disposable painter’s palettes
• Spray bottle
• Paper towels
• Brayer
• Kosher salt

PREPARING TO PAINT
Don protective clothing and/or disposable gloves and cover the work surface (and surrounding floor) with plastic. Pre-wash fabrics as needed, and fill two buckets with fresh water. Place all tools and paints nearby, ready to use. Tear the fabric into pieces or lay out yardage on a plastic-covered table.

PAINT APPLICATION
Paint may be applied to fabric in numerous ways. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

Wet the fabric with a spray bottle, spread it out on a work surface, and drop various colored paints in a random pattern for a wet-into-wet technique. Allow the painted fabric to dry naturally or speed up the process with a hair dryer.

Wet fabric with a spray bottle, apply layers of textile paint to the fabric with foam brushes or damp sponges, and sprinkle the surface with kosher salt. Allow the fabric to dry completely before brushing off the salt and ironing.

Apply lots of textile paint to wet fabric, and then cover the fabric with plastic wrap, pressing wrinkles into the plastic. Allow the fabric to dry for several days before removing the plastic wrap. On dry fabric, apply layers of textile paint with sponges. Pour out small puddles of paint onto a Styrofoam plate and dip soft sponges into each puddle before “stamping off” onto the fabric. Take care not to apply too many layers, or the fabric may stiffen.

On dry or wet fabric, apply thick textile paint with a brayer: Roll the brayer in paint until it’s quite “gloppy,” and then roll the brayer over the fabric in long strokes. Allow the fabric to dry naturally.

Fill a bucket with water, add a small amount of paint, stir, and submerge fabric for several hours or a few days. Remove the fabric, squeeze out the diluted paint, and allow the fabric to dry undisturbed in a tight ball for one week. Open the fabric ball and iron flat; note the lovely wrinkle patterns. This technique also works with strong black tea or coffee.

HEAT-SETTING & FABRIC CARE
Acrylic paints are permanent once dry; hence the need for wearing old clothes or an apron while painting! There is no need to heat-set acrylic paint. But textile paint must be heat-set with an iron for permanence, and some manufacturers recommend waiting at least 24 hours after the paint has dried before washing the fabric.

After painting, some fabrics should be washed by hand, while others may be machine-washed. Consult the manufacturer’s instructions on paint labels for specific instructions regarding the care of handpainted fabrics.

CLEANUP
If you covered your work surface and surrounding floor with plastic, cleanup should be a snap. Simply wipe down the plastic with a damp sponge to remove any spills, dry the plastic, and store it for later use. Discard used paper towels. Wash out all brushes and sponges with warm water and mild detergent and rinse them until the water runs clear. Store brushes flat or with the tips up. Squeeze out the moisture from your sponges. Rinse out your buckets and store them for later use.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Several excellent books on fabric painting are available. The following list is by no means comprehensive, but it will help you start building a library of resources.