Thursday, September 27, 2012

From White Sheet to Bright Blue Aviary Dress

The White Sheet Challenge.

I had so many ideas for this week's challenge over at Project Run and Play.  My mind was bouncing in a million directions; I may or may not have cut out three different dress patterns (all my own patterns) before I eventually decided on this little number.   But I'll never admit that. : )



I decided to make my white sheet totally unrecognizable (the anti-white sheet). With some fabric paint, freezer paper, a hole punch, and an embarrassing amount of time later that white sheet became a thing of the past.  ; ). I'm well aware that the same effect could have been achieved by dying my fabric and reversing the hole punch, but my curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to see how painting the majority of the fabric would work out.  Much to my pleasure, it worked quite well.  The fabric is stiffer then what I normally work with. It ended up being similar to canvas or duck fabric.  And it surprisingly washes just fine. 

I'll show you how I did it below.  

What I love about this technique is that it opens up a world of possibilities.  Because I'm a little lazy and the fabric wrinkles very easily, I'm pretty sure I won't use this technique again for such a large article of clothing, but this would be perfect for a quirky pillow or a little boys tie (tutorial here).  


Because the fabric was so bold, I opted for a traditional and simple silhouette with white accents (all from my white sheet).  I added some gold buttons to dress this up a bit and I called it good. 







Want to make your own painted fabric creation?

You will need:
  • Freezer Paper
  • Hole Punch
  • Iron 
  • Ruler
  • Fabric paint (or acrylic paint and a fabric paint medium) If using the medium, see my notes below.
If you use acrylic paint and a fabric paint medium, use more medium then the manufacturer recommends. The medium I used said to put 2 parts acrylic paint to 1 part medium. The fabric ended up being waaaay too stiff (like unusable stiff).  The next trial I used 1 part medium to 1 part acrylic paint. The fabric is still stiff but usable.  So I thinned it out more with more fabric paint medium until I was happy.  I recommend playing around with the ratio until you get it right.



Here's what you do:
1.Take your freezer paper and using your hole punch punch a lot of shapes.  I ended up punching a ridiculously large amount those little birdies.

2. Iron the hole punched freezer paper onto your fabric. Be sure it is evenly spaced.




3. Using fabric paint or acrylic paint with a fabric medium paint your fabric.  Don't put gobs of paint on the fabric or it will be too stiff. Just lightly paint until you see only the color you want. 


4. Let it dry for an hour or so. It should be barely sticky to touch. Peel off the freezer paper.  Let dry 24-48 hours.  I recommend washing your fabric according to the fabric pain manufacturer instructions before you sew or add any notions. You don't want to have any color bleeding.   : )

You're done!

Loves,
Amber

6 comments:

  1. thanks for sharing this technique, a lot of time & hard work went into this look & it shows

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  2. you make the most beautiful things and I am convinced you have a incredible amount of patience!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That dress is the perfect color! Love the pattern you made too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Out of all the white sheet challenge looks (contestants and sew along), this is my favorite! I love it so much.

    ReplyDelete

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