Background Stenciling

Stencils are also used for printing fabric with acrylic. Start with a solid fabric with or without texture. Paint should be applied thickly enough so that it doesn't bleed under the stencil.

Liquithick Thickening Gel boasts a unique polymer formula that thickens acrylic paints and mediums without adding transparency. Used in small amounts, it produces handling characteristics very close to that of oil or encaustic paint. At higher concentrations, it can thicken paint or mediums to a "cake-like" consistency. It dries to a matte sheen in anywhere from 24 hours to 7 days, depending on the amount used. Available from Blick Art for $14.69/8 oz

Materials:

Acrylic Paint in matte and metallic colors

Liquithick 

2oz mister

Palette knife
Small cups for mixing

Flat Acrylic Wash brush (3/4 or 1")
Stencil brushes (2, 4, 6, 1/8, 1/4, 1")
Foam brush (1")

Acetate sheet

Non Porous Digital Ground

Acrylic sheet, 1/4" thick (for printing)

Craft knife

Craft Bond Spray Adhesive
Bowl of water with detergent 

Bowl of clean water

Paper towel

Roll plastic

100% Cotton Fabric

*Let dry and heat set. Wash in hot textile detergent. Rub the fabric between your hands or on a wash board for large pieces to soften the fabric. Rinse in cool water. Let dry and iron smooth.

Stencil Paste

1/2 tsp Acrylic paint

1 tsp Liquithick

Use with a stencil brush.

Stencils

Make stencils based on fabric you own. 

Scan a swatch of fabric and open it in an image editor. Use the Magic Wand tool set to Add Mode, Tolerance: 50, Anti-alias, Inside to select the fabric pattern. Disregard partial patterns that were cut. Expand selection by 1 pixel. 

Add new layer and fill with black. Make the background layer invisible. Copy and paste the black layer as a new image. Save it as a png file.

Brush an acetate sheet lightly with non porous ground and let it dry. Load the image in the Print Layout and center it on the page. 

Print the pattern onto the acetate sheet with the following settings: Inkjet transparency film, Fast Draft, Black Ink Only. Blow dry the ink. Spray with acrylic sealer. 

Cut out the pattern with a craft knife. I prefer to cut tiny patterns like the one above in a 2" block rather than cut a whole sheet because they're very tedious and easy to screw up. It takes much longer to cut a stencil than it does to paint with it. Test the stencil on paper before using it on fabric to make sure the pattern is clear. Blow dry each stenciled section to prevent smearing.

Dark on Light Print: Paint or dye fabric the color you want the background to be. *  Spray stencil lightly with tack adhesive and apply to fabric. Using a stencil brush, palette knife, or your finger, apply paint sparingly over the stencil. *

Light on Dark Print: Paint or dye fabric the color you want the background to be. * Spray stencil lightly with tack adhesive and apply to fabric. Using a stencil brush, palette knife, or your finger, apply paint sparingly over the stencil. *

Ombré: Paint or dye fabric the color you want the background to be. * Spray stencil lightly with tack adhesive and apply to fabric. Load a stencil brush sparingly with paint. Remove excess paint on a scrap piece of paper or fabric. Rub paint in a circular motion across the entire stencil. You can blend two or more colors. *

Airbrushed: Paint or dye fabric the color you want the background to be. * Spray stencil lightly with tack adhesive and apply to fabric. Load an airbrush gun with paint and airbrush medium. Test paint flow on a scrap piece of paper or fabric. Spray across the areas you want painted, leaving some areas unpainted. Repeat with as many colors as you like to create a blended effect. *

Object Stenciling

I love the way stenciling looks on walls and decor. The same effect can be achieved on fabric using acrylic paint. It's a great way to paint an image on an already painted top or when a seam would prevent a transfer.

Inkjet transparency sheets

Xacto knife

Stencil brushes: 1/8, 1/4"

Flat wash brush, 3/4"

#2 Flat brush

Acrylic paint

Water

Card stock

Towel

Craft Bond spray adhesive

Liquitex Gloss Varnish*

First, you need to make the stencil. Determine what colors to use in each section of the stencil so you'll know which areas to cut out. You'll need to print the same number of sheets as colors. You can print in either black only, greyscale, or color. It doesn't matter as long as you cut out the right areas.

Quilting Creations has a lot of paint stencils on their website. Download the image file and color it in your image program. Print on inkjet transparency sheets. Cut out one color area of each sheet with an Xacto knife. Spray adhesive lightly on the stencil, not the fabric. Wait for the adhesive to become tacky before you adhere it. Smooth over the stencil to get a good seal.

 

 

Study the image to get the paint order right. In this butterfly, the main body purple color is not the first layer. The second pink color is what I had to paint first because of the way the stencils had to be cut.

 

If you're stenciling an image on a painted top like I did, you'll need to paint on three coats as a foundation layer. The wash brush is better for this than a stencil brush. Blow dry between each layer.

 

The second color also needs three coats as a foundation layer. The fourth coat is the blending layer. This coat needs to be tacky. Dip the 1/4" stencil brush into a small amount of white paint. Pick up some of the color paint and mix the two colors in a separate area on the palette. Swirl the stencil brush on card stock to remove excess paint. You only need a tiny amount. Dab the paint close to the area where you want the lightest color. Brush in a circular motion blending out into the darker area. You can move the brush up and down or side to side as well. Blend until there are no visible lines or discernible separation between colors. Repeat this process until it looks the way you want it to. If the paint dries while you're blending, dip the stencil brush in water and blot on an absorbent towel. It only takes a trace of moisture to re-wet the paint. You can remove wet paint with a damp cloth if you make a mistake.

 

Stencil in detail and accent areas.

 

The last area you stencil needs to be the part that brings it all together.

Clean up your lines and over painted spots with a #2 flat brush. Brush on two coats of gloss varnish. *You don't need the varnish if you're painting directly on fabric. Heat set it instead.