Tuesday 17 September 2013

A Photo, A Piece Of Tie Dyed Fabric And Some DecoArt So Soft Fabric Paint. . . . . . . . .

I've been having a play with some of the new DecoArt So Soft Fabric Paint. I've only played with one colour but I wanted to see how the finished result would feel on fabric. In my experience, lots of fabric paints leave the surface feeling stiff or 'plastic-like', they often bleed and forget using it through a stencil - disaster!

The first thing I did was to choose an image of my daughter and have a little play around with it on a simple image editing programme called Photoscape.

So from this. . . . . . . 

. . . . . . . to this. Now I had a black and white image I could transfer onto fabric and it turned into. . . . . . 

. . . . . this explosion of colour!
I used an old piece of tie dyed fabric from my teaching days; some Americana Transfer Paper (which is just like carbon paper and is used on top of the fabric face down, with the altered image on the top and a pencil/pen is used to trace round your chosen image) and finally some black DecoArt So Soft Fabric Paint. 


The fabric was taped flat on the craft sheet so it wouldn't drag or move when painted. You can see from this image that you then simply colour in the areas with your chosen shade but you must keep referring to your picture just in case you colour the wrong section!
Several different sizes of brush will be needed according to the line and space that you are adding using the paint.

The instructions say to leave the paint to dry for 48 hours before washing on a gentle cycle. I washed mine by hand and although the black didn't run despite me using a good thick layer (as suggested on the bottle), I did get lots of colour run from the tie dye. On the left you can see a worn patch with the tie dye pattern just visible. This happened because I was too rough with my fabric when washing. However, I liked the distress look much more than the pristine one, so gave a few other areas of the work a good rub.

I really like the tie dye pattern and colours showing through.

I tried to have a go at splattering some paint onto the exposed areas of tie dye. I didn't go overboard with it and I like just the small touch of splatter!


For the sides of the work which would be exposed on the canvas this piece would be mounted on, I chose to use some So Soft through a stencil (very easy - no bleeding and it washed off the stencil easily). I used an Andy Skinner stencil for the two sides and another for the top edge but I can't remember who it came from - sorry!
Once dry, the fabric was ironed then stretched over a canvas with a frame and stapled into place.

Top edge stencilling to create interest on the sides of the frame.

So, how easy was that?!! So much fun and now I want to have a go at stamping with DecoArt So Soft - it's supposed to work like a dream so I can't wait!

Hope you like it! For those who are nosy, we're still moving but our date isn't until approx the 21st so still time to pack more boxes!

Please also keep your fingers crossed for my cat Frankie (you can see his photo on the left margin of my blog). He was diagnosed with pancreatitis yesterday and is very poorly now. Fingers crossed they can get the meds and diet right to manage it.


28 comments:

  1. Simply WOW! Julia you know this is right up my street, fantastic! You have a beautiful daughter..... shame I'm too young for her lol!

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  2. WOW - stunning, love the explosion of colour, great effect.

    Sam xx

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  3. Fantastic work, and what a beautiful daughter you have! Valerie

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  4. So cool, Julia - beautiful photo, and amazing effects from the paint and your technical skill!
    Alison x

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  5. How lovely is your daughter and your wonderful picture is brilliant and a lovely memento.

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  6. Fantastic, Julia!

    Your daughter is a real beauty and your canvas is absolutely stunning!

    Hugs,
    Claudia x

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  7. Wow Julia this is just fabulous and how lovely to have a canvas of your gorgeous daughter (I'm guessing she takes after her mother!). Cuddles for Frankie and good luck with the move. Xx

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  8. ...in a word Julia AWESOME!!...what a stunning image to work with, your Daughter is beautiful and so sorry to hear your cat is poorly :((
    Mel:)xx

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  9. Wow!! That is absolutely stunning Julia - what a fabulous photograph to start with (your daughter is beautiful!) and amazing what you have done with it. Love all those wonderful colours. I hope your daughter likes it too!

    Good luck with the box packing - it can get quite monotonous can't it! And sorry to hear about Frankie - hope he starts to improve.

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  10. An amazing transformation, your picture is so beautiful - and so is your Daughter!

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  11. Oh WOW! Julia, this is absolutely fabulous work and your daughter is a stunner ... I thought it was Katy Melua at first :) Sorry to read about Frankie's illness and I so hope that the vet can sort out his medication and he makes a good recovery. Hugs, Elizabeth xx

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  12. Stunning daughter matched by a stunning portrait Julia! Love this to bits. Hope Frankie improves over the coming days. Hugs, Jenny x

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  13. Amazing Julia, really funky :)
    Von ♥

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  14. Julia
    This is quite incredible.
    Your daughter is incredibly beautiful, she has the most astonishing eyes but to then take such a photograph and create art such as this, it is beyond impressive.
    I am sorry to read that Frankie is so very ill, such distressing news for you and your family.
    Wishes
    Lynne

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  15. Wow, what an incredible piece! So very, very clever, - that explosion of colour behind the black silhouette face looks amazing. Such a clever transformation!

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  16. This is amazing. What beautiful daughter you have. I often turn my photographs to black and white images to use on projects but have never thought to transfer them onto Fabric. Very inspirational thank you

    Hope your cat can get better soon.

    Love Chrissie xx

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  17. This is stunning Julia and thanks for all the photos and instructions. I love the photo of your beautiful daughter and the contrast of the silhouette style image against the bold and bright colours and how lovely that its on fabric. Sorry to hear the news about Frankie, I hope the meds work for him soon and he improves quickly. Also good luck with the continued house moving, what alot going on for you at the moment. Take care.
    hugs {brenda} x0x

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  18. This is gorgeous , what a creative and wonderful a make and wow what a stunning picture of your daughter xx hugs trace x

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  19. Lol I'm still chuckling at Sir Skinner's comment, what a tart he is!!!!!!!
    This is simply beautiful sweetie and a gorgeous tribute to your stunning daughter, she gets a lot of her looks from you you know!!!
    Huge huggles and I hope your not having too much trouble with the move darling.
    X x x x x

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  20. ABSOLUTELY STUNNING WORK!!!! You have made all this sounds so easy my lovely :D I would love to have a go at this!!!

    Poor Frankie. I hope he gets better soon and everything is crossed for him xxx

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  21. UNBELIEVABLE , WOW this is jaw dropping-ly beautiful, fantastic, you daughter is GORGEOUS... I love your tag in your last post, fabulous work the texture is fantastic, all your work is made with love, it's signing everywhere. Thanks for sharing..

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  22. You must be as handsome as your daughter Julia...she looks stunning...as so does your creation!

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  23. WOW,This canvas is so beautiful,wonderful colors and textures.
    now i find your blog,and what i see is all amazing and stunning.

    Greetings Jeannette

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  24. This is amazing Julia - the colours are gorgeous and I feel a spend coming on. I hope Frankie is getting better.
    xxx Hazel.

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  25. Your daughter is stunning Julia! Beautiful artwork! xx

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  26. Fabulous technique with excellent results! Love her face!

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  27. Oh, this is so amazing! I love the idea of using a photo of loved ones on a canvas, and your canvas is gorgeous!

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  28. Julie this is totally and absolutely extraordinary! What an exciting way of creating such a unique and wonderful piece of art.
    Hope all is OK in your world.

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Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. Juliax