Once again I'm on my mission of completing a project out of every book. This time with Simple Sewing for Baby, by Lotta Jansdotter, in hand. I have been wanting to do fabric printing and painting for a long time and I finally got around to it! In the picture above I used handmade stamps using a Speedball stamp making kit and Versacraft fabric stamp pads.
These little stamps were super easy to make and frankly they're a lot of fun to use. The kit comes with the tools you need for carving and you can either use an exacto knife or sizzors to cut out the size you need from the carving block. It's helpful to have something to attach your stamp to when you're done, like a block of wood, etc. like stamps you would purchase. I thought I had some but couldn't find them for the life of me so I had to improvise with an empty thread spool and double stick tape.
Once you print your image, you just have to let it dry and then heat set it with an iron for 30 seconds or so. How fun is that?!
Here's one I did using Jacquard Fabric Paints and a stencil I made.
I started out this whole process by sketching out a bunch of different designs (some snagged from Lotta's books) and color ideas.Then I transferred a design to a template plastic sheet (you can pick these up at just about any craft or sewing store). I would recommend not getting sheets that are too thick or they'll be a pain to cut through. Cut out the design with an exacto knife making sure you have thick cardboard underneath protecting your table. Use tape to hold your image in place.
If you have a design where two images overlay like the one above you'll have to cut two seperate sections. I practiced painting my images on scrap pieces of muslin with a sponge brush, and bristle brush, and a flat brush. I discovered I like a lot of control so I preferred the flat brush but to each his own. Keep in mind a knit fabric like the onesies soak up more paint than muslin. The flatter and smoother the surface, the cleaner, crisper and more saturated the image. You can see my practice runs hanging in the window.
When you're ready make sure to place something like a sheet of plastic inside your onesie to keep paint from seeping to the back. Tape your stencil to the front, paint your image, let it dry, remove plastic sheet from inside the onesie, heat set with iron for 30 seconds or so and your done.
There are a few more techniques I want to try out so you'll be seeing more of this kind of thing, plus the ideas are endless...I can print everything from paper to wood!
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