Experimenting with acrylics on fabric

In January, I visited the Society of Designer Craftsman and one of the artists I was inspired by was Sue Stone. In particular I liked how she added paint to her cloth to add additional texture and interest. So I thought I would do some experiments with my fabric paints and also my Heavy Body acrylics.

 

 

Some of my fabric paints were a little on the dry side! Note to self: do not buy a fabric paint just because it is on offer, it will invariably dry out before you use it. Only buy it when you know you will be using it soon. I bet you'd never buy fabric paint just because it was on offer would you?

 

I took a piece of loosely woven dyed fabric and randomly added fabric paints and acrylic paint.

 



On the whole I was pleased with my experiments. The paints held their shape on the fabric and I was also able to stitch into them.

 

 

 

I found only a small difference between the two media although the acrylics felt a tiny bit more plasticy and were perhaps a bit shinier but I would would consider using either of them on a piece, especially if it was a hanging. After I had success with the woven fabric, I wondered whether this technique would work on plain cotton and so pulled out a piece from my stash to experiment on.

Again, it was possible to create some relief on the fabric and although my experiment was less than scientific, I think the shapes held better on the woven textured fabric. This is a technique that I would definitely consider using future to add extra texture and interest to a piece. If you have done anything similar in your work I would love to hear about it.