Quarantine snacks are playing shrinky-dinks with my wardrobe. I have one pair of jeans that still fit and almost lost them to a defiant paint stain. Before giving them the heave-ho, I devised a rescue plan using fabric paint. Gambling on the pants looking like a chintzy couch from 1983 or looking like a boho oldster, I chose a watercolor flower pattern in indigo. Now, I’m wearing them and a smile. Here are the directions for this fabric paint rescue:
Supplies
- Acrylic Paint (I used Craft Smart, Premium Satin, Midnight Blue)
- Delta Ceramcoat Textile Medium
- Small Spray Bottle filled with water (to create watercolor effects)
- Scrap Cardboard – cut into the shape of pant leg to prevent paint from bleeding through to the opposite side of pants. Stuff inside leg of pant while painting.
- Paint Brushes
- Paper Towels
- Paper Plate Palette
- Optional: Print Outs of watercolor flower patterns for reference
Instructions
- Place cardboard inside pant legs to tighten fabric (which improves the painting surface), and prevent paint bleed-through to the other side.
- Prepare your painting supplies:
- On a paper plate, mix a blob of acrylic paint with textile medium.
- Have a cup of water available for brush washing and dipping.
- Fill the spray bottle with water.
- Keep paper towels near for dabbing your brush, sopping up spilled paint, or blotting paint application that is too heavy.
- Paint using watercolor flower reference or your imagination.
- To achieve a wet-on-wet effect, spray the fabric first and paint with diluted, watery paint.
- To achieve a dry brush effect, dip your brush in undiluted acrylic paint and lightly blot it with paper towel. Test a couple of brush strokes on a piece of scrap paper. Then stroke paint onto a dry area of the pants.
- Remove cardboard and allow painted pants to dry 24 hours.
- Turn pants inside-out and iron painted areas, without steam, on medium heat.
- Done! Now it’s time to go forth and show off your mad pant painting skills. * Download the painted denim laundry instructions for care.