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Monday, January 10, 2011

Painting Fabric

I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone on this post. I'm entering the January DIYclub project competition and giving a better tutorial for my 2 vintage grain sack inspired projects. These are the images I was attempting to copy



The bench is from Pottery Barn and the bedding is from Restoration Hardware

This first time I used fabric meduim, I'll admit, I was a bit skeptical. Every time I had painted fabric before, it dried hard and I hated it. I heard medium softened the paint and made it washable and also gave it a nice vintage look.

It did both for me. I wonder if I could buy this stuff by the gallon...

I started by taping off the stripes I wanted on the fabric. I used blue painters tape for the bench and then found out that white masking tape works a little better on fabric when I did the bedding. Then in a cup, I mixed black paint with the medium and painted over the stripes.


*WARNING! The paint will bleed through the fabric onto whatever surface you're crafting on. In this case, my kitchen island. But don't worry, it wipes right up with a damp washcloth!*


Then you peel off the tape and your stripes look perfect! Wait until it's dry and wash it a couple times. It softens it just enough to look like a pattern in the fabric. I stapled it onto a bench I had and it looks JUST like the one from Pottery Barn.


I did the boy's bedding project virtually the same way but used a yard stick to keep the stripes evenly spaced since there was 2 instead of just one.


Instead of black, I mixed the color Dove Grey with the medium for the bedding. It turned out a little bluer than I expected but it matched the blue duvet underneath better that way.


Linking up to
DIY Club

18 comments:

  1. I love how we can get the look without the price. You did a fabulous job on both pieces!

    Judy

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  2. it looks gorgeous! you did a fabulous job- i love the difference a little fabric paint can make.

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  3. Thati s amazing! thank you for sharing this. I was wondering how to do this and now I think I will have to try. Your's looks great!
    Mechelle

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  4. Hey Nikki! All your designs are so amazing! First off, I wish I was half as creative as you and secondly, I seriously want you to come do my whole house! Oh I wish I had lotts of moola and I'd hire you to do it! What I really want done is my piano. I LOVED Jen's. Mine is about the same size and it's seriously super ugly right now. E-Mail me and give me a quote.
    turnertrio2003@gmail.com

    Thanks!
    Kasey, Heather's SIL with the cute girl baby you love to hold.

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  6. Beautiful! I did this once to cover a bench, with red paint. It was bolder than I wanted, I never thought of washing it to soften the color. Your projects look every bit as good as the expensive inspiration.

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  7. Wow this is gorgeous!! Thanks for the tutorial!! :)

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  8. Totally loving this! Thanks for linking up at The DIY Club!

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  9. That fabric painting medium is awesome. You did a spectacular job...just gorgeous.
    Holly
    504 Main
    DIY Club

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  10. Gorgeous! I love it! Definitely tucking this away for future ideas. Thanks so much for sharing! :)

    Roeshel

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  11. Both of your projects turned out beautifully, I love the bedding!

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  12. Love Love Love this--I have 4 chairs to recover and have been planning on doing the fabrioc medium stripes and just haven't gotten to it yet.

    Cheri

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  13. Is there a particular kind of fabric paint you suggest using with the fabric medium? I'm considering trying this on some projects myself.

    Love this idea!

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  14. I think I got the fabric medium at Joann's. I know for sure they sell it at Michaels because that's where I first saw it but Joann's has it too. And I've only done it on muslin so I don't know how it would do on other fabric. I'm about to do it to a drop cloth to make an area rug, so I'll let everyone know how it goes on the thicker fabric.

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  15. I love this idea too. I've added it to my inspiration page. I've wanted to paint some stripes on fabric for ages now and I'm glad I found your post with tips and tricks. Your bench looks amazing.

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  16. what do you think about big, bold stripes for curtains? i just read a blog post about drop cloths for curtains, and i really want horizontal striped curtains for my den. any tips? :) thanks!!

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  17. I would love to see how you make an area rug from a drop cloth and paint it! PLEASE post pics and a tutorial when you do! Thanks so much for sharing this, it looks beautiful!

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  18. I just found your blog through the house tour at A Bowl Full of Lemons. I LOVE your house! I have the same duvet in my bedroom and on my "to do" list is painting the same stripes that you have (plus, the hubby saw the barn door and added that as well...we'll see if that ever happens or not). I am dying to do some fabric painting of my own (you have inspired me!!) and wondered what fabric you used. Is it muslin? It looks amazing!!! So excited to find your blog!

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