Thursday, April 17, 2014

Fabric Painting on T Shirts is Fun

Painting on t shirts is fun for all levels of painters, at least if our Friday Painting Group is any indication. Everyone came away with wearable art for themselves or as gifts.
Golden makes a product GAC 900 that when added to acrylic paints turns it into fabric paint. It is very easy to use, just add it 1:1 with the acrylic paint and after the fabric has dried 24 hours heat set it on the back side of the fabric with an iron, 3-5 minutes, in a well ventilated area . After that, the fabric is washable. Check here for details about Golden's GAC 900. http://www.goldenpaints.com/technicaldata/fabric.php
 
 
Here I masked the fence with narrow masking tape strips. Even though the paint bled under the tape when the roses were spritzed with water, it still gives the impression of a fence with roses draping over. Bonnie also used this spritzing technique after sponging on purple and mauve lilac blooms. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of that shirt but it turned out really well. If you try lilacs, remember to leave some of the white of the shirt showing through for highlights on the blossoms.
 

 
 
Stamps were made by cutting a sheet of craft foam into shapes and gluing them to a block of wood. Place your fabric on a solid surface and in the case of a t shirt, put a piece of plastic between the fabric layers to prevent colour getting through to the back of the t shirt. Brush acrylic paint with the GAC 900 medium in it onto the stamp and using firm pressure transfer the paint onto the fabric.


 With a very painterly approach, Joyce painted this t shirt for Bonnie. Gorgeous!


Linda painted t shirts for her granddaughters. What was it they wanted on their shirts? Well 'monster girls' of course. For another post about painting   t shirts, click here.



Could quilting fabric be created using this technique? Although I haven't done it myself having strictly been painting with dyes for quilters, I can see from the sample above that yes you could create one of a kind fabric to use in quilting projects. Just know that the hand of the fabric is a bit stiffer than when painting with dyes but it could still be sewn and would be especially appropriate for wall hangings.
I have a question for you quilters. I plan on experimenting with gelli plate printing (monoprinting) and I am wondering for those of you that love original fabric but don't want to create it yourself, are you interested in original fabric painted or monoprinted with fabric paint?
 


3 comments:

Win Dinn, Artist said...

What a fun post, Eileen, and the results are so varied. With so many options to choose, from stamping to painting to Gelli-printing,I can feel a need for some white T's!

Watercolour and Textile Artist, Eileen Gidman said...

Other colour t shirts work too but I noticed the black ones required a lot more paint making the fabric a bit stiffer.

Laura Leeder said...

Looks like a lot of fun Eileen!