Sun Printing On Fabric

[Music] today i'm going to talk a little bit about one of my favorite techniques to do especially when we have these beautiful long hot summer days and that's called sun printing sun printing occurs when you lay a paint down on a fabric and then you lay shapes down on top of that wherever the sunlight can hit it becomes dark and vibrant and beautiful and wherever the sunlight can't so say underneath a leaf that you've put down on top of the wet fabric the paint becomes faded so you get that beautiful shape that you've laid down on the fabric with just a little bit of help from the sun my favorite paint to use for sun printing is the liquitex soft body acrylic one of the reasons i love it is it works really well for this technique but it also doesn't change the hand of the fabric so when you're done with your prints you wash your fabric the color stays but the fabric becomes beautiful and soft and pliable just like it was before if you use normal acrylic paints the fabric is going to be a lot stiffer even after you've washed it if you're new to mixing different colors and paints you might consider getting yourself one of these handy dandy little pocket color guides this will actually show you how the different colors mixed together will look fabrics that i like to use when i'm sun printing are good quality 100 cotton you can get the prepared for dying fabric which is ready to receive color but it's not necessary for this technique you can use any good quality muslin or you could even use batiks as well perhaps your boutique already has a color but it doesn't have much of a print on it this is a wonderful way that you can adapt it to be perfect for your project you can also do some sun printing on white on whites part of the fun of using these fabrics when you're doing this technique is that the white on white print that's already in the fabric acts as a resist for the color of the paint that you're putting down so those designs will come up much more prominent after they've been painted it's also fun to play with sun printing on uncommon fabrics say cheese cloth or lutradeur these two are really fun to add some color to and add texture and fun into your art quilts you'll want to have some dedicated tools for measuring out your paint and water [Music] sponge brushes are great for this technique you can use natural sponge as well to get some different textures and the stiff paint brushes perhaps add some different colors and accents plastic chip trays that you can get at the dollar store work wonderfully as a painters palette for this technique using the simple little plastic bottles for condiments are a great way to mix a larger amount of paint if you're working on a bigger project [Music] go around your house and find some really fun different little objects that may be left over from either some fruit that you've gotten or some games you can even go collect some leaves anything can work for sun printing as long as it will lie flat on your fabric while it's drying to prepare your space for working i suggest using some freezer paper to cover your table so that you don't inadvertently cov paint it more than your fabric you can also add more freezer paper after you've been doing a little bit of painting if you want to switch colors and you don't want to have any contamination dip your fabric into water so it's nice and wet and then lay it out onto your table or your workspace area smooth it out as best as you can so you try and get all those little air pockets out of there [Music] once you're ready grab your paint and then add it to your wet fabric use those sponge brushes to spread it evenly across the entire surface [Music] now it's time to lay down whatever shapes you'd like to print onto your fabric arrange them however you see fit and then make sure that the edges are staying down as much as possible if the edges don't stay down completely you won't have as solid of a print once it's dry you can use a wet sponge brush in order to tamp down your items so that they lie flat more easily [Music] this is also a great way of adding a second color on top of your base color to add a little bit more interest now it's time to let your fabric dry completely and then carefully peel away your shapes to reveal the magic that has happened underneath [Music] if you're using the chip tray for your painters palette you can take one little spoon of paint and then three spoons of water and then mix it nice and thoroughly and you can do this different colors in each little section of your chip tray [Music] take your sponge brush and then on wet fabric go ahead and spread that color out again [Music] once they're done you can use your sponge brush put a little bit more paint down as well as tamping down those edges maybe adding in a different color to add that in extra interest and depth once your fabric is completely dry go ahead and carefully lift up your shapes and tada beautiful printed fabric [Music] if you'd like to try out some sun printing yourself you can grab some great liquitex paints from my website at ladybugscabin.com grab your shades grab some fabric grab your paint have some fun [Music] you

Channel: Ladybugs Cabin

Views: 16,021

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Length: 8min 40sec (520 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 28 2020