Fabric Painting and Batik

Whether it's decorating a t-shirt, cushion cover, table cloth, or bag, or maybe painting a piece of cloth for a craft or sewing project, here's the list of essential supplies to get you started.

With a few colors and a suitable brush, fabric painting opens up endless opportunities for transforming your wardrobe and your home. Here are some tips to help.

How do you heat set fabric paint with an iron? Find out here...

Did you know there's an acrylic medium that turns any acrylic paint into a fabric paint which can be brushed, airbrushed, or screen-printed onto fabric? It leaves the fabric soft and, if heat set, can be washed as normal.

Fabric stamping is a quick and easy way to get fabulous results when fabric painting.

Fabric painting with a marker pen rather than brush and paint is particularly useful when it comes to painting thin lines. (And there's no brush to clean afterwards!) But that's hardly the only thing you can do with a fabric marker.

A step-by-step fabric painting demo of a tree using Inktense watersoluble ink pencils and fabric painting medium.

A fabric painting tip on using paint to change the color of an existing fabric print.

A list of my favorite books on fabric painting, all inspiring and useful for improving techniques.

Use fabric paint to transform a carpet using a Jackson Pollock drip painting technique.

Is there a medium that you can add to acrylic paint to make it suitable for silk painting? Find out here...

There's an important difference between watercolor paints designed for using on fabric and on paper. Don't ruin a fabric painting project by using the wrong type of watercolor paint.

A tip on how to prevent paint from getting under a stencil when painting on fabric.

Is it okay to copy a fabric design or to paint your own version thereof, or are fabric designs copyrighted? Find out in the Artist's Copyright FAQ.

If you like fabric painting but can't stand heat setting the paint, then you'll be interested to know that Simply Spray fabric paint doesn't require heat setting.

A review of a book that explains a variety of fabric-painting techniques, including stencilling, stamping, painting, bleach discharge, and photocopy transfers.

A review of a book by Mickey Lawler, who is renowned for her hand-painted fabrics, that demonstrates how to create your own sky, sea, and earth fabrics using loose, 'watercolor' fabric-painting techniques.

Hand marbling is a method for painting fabric (or paper) that involves floating paints on a solution, manipulating these into patterns, then transferring them onto fabric (or paper).About’s Quilting Guide has written a great step-by-step hand marbling tutorial explaining the process from beginning to finish.

Basic instructions on tie-dying, from About's Family Crafts Guide. Includes links to a list of essential supplies and specific folds to achieve various designs.

An illustrated step-by-step explaining how to do simple screen printing, using an embroidery hoop and basic "ingredients" rather than expensive equipment.

How to spray-paint designs onto a T-shirt (or anything, really), using a stencil.

Deliberately spill coffee on your clothes!

Create a background color on a piece of fabric you wish to paint by cold water dyeing first. (From About.com's DIY Fashion.)

A review of Pebeo Setacolor Fabric Paint from About.com's Guide to Miniatures.

Use fabric paint with this painting technique to create some fun bubble-print fabric.

Learn how to do batik with soy wax, which has the advantage of washing out with detergent. (From About.com's DIY Fashion.)

Learn how to do batik with the traditional batik waxes, beeswax or paraffin wax. (From About.com's DIY Fashion.)

An information sheet from Golden on creating a floorcloth, from materials needed to preparation to edge finishing.

Great photos of the results of silk painting experiments using cotton wool, lace, rope, muslin, and other materials.

An overview of various techniques and methods for painting fabric, from Belgium textile artist Laura Liebenberg.

A collection of tips and techniques for silk painting from The Guild of Silk Painters.