"Stamping" Fabric with Paint - {DIY}

A while back, I found this stamp at the craft store on clearance - given that I am a sucker for anything resembling polka dots or circles, I was a goner. I bought it and stuck it in the closet - pondering. I LOVE this design and one day got to wondering if I could combine the adorable stamp with ...

fabric paint! In order to make my own "custom" fabric. Let me tell you, the answer is YES! I am so happy with the way this turned out, and am now eyeing my stamp collection (that generally collects dust) with a new interest. The possibilities are SO endless here! In this example, I stamp painted a tea towel to turn it into an apron. I cannot wait to make more custom fabric with this particular stamp and try some other colors too - I love it!

Here's how I did it:

Materials:

-Fabric Paint (I like Tulip, Matte);

-Paint brush;

-Stamp of choice; and

-Fabric to decorate!

-Liberally apply fabric paint to the stamp using a small paint brush.

-Apply "painted" stamp to fabric and press firmly (two hands and body weight).

-Lift stamp, inspect work and smile!

-If you need to fill in any parts, just use the paint brush to do so. I had to do that with the larger solid chunks; all of the dots turned out really well without having to touch them up.

-Stamp away pattern as desired. I rotated the stamp ... horizontal, vertical, flipping the stamp's direction.  

 

At the end of this repeating pattern, I wanted to add a pop of orange. And I always like a dot, so I used an old pencil (eraser end) to add some orange throughout! 

In this picture, you can see the size of paint brush I used to apply the fabric paint to the stamp.

-Lastly, follow manufacturer's instructions to set the paint. With the Tulip, you heat set it with the iron after 4 hours of dry time. BUT, if you are paranoid like me ... wait overnight to heat set! And use a press cloth :)

Turn your creation into something you love!

PS: Based on my testing this will stain your stamp with the fabric paint. I assume that if you use that stamp again, it'll just absorb new ink or new paint on top of it, but be forewarned (if you care) your stamp will likely forever be the color of paint you put on it! :)

If you try this, or have already tried this, do send me a link as I'd love to see your creations. I'm excited about this because this is a really different type of project for me (I'm not a painter, at all!) and I'd love to see more.