Printing on Fabric to make your own Textile Designs

As I work more and more with fabric in my art, I am learning how I can make my art pieces truly unique by creating my own fabric designs. There are several ways to do this and I haven't experimented with them all. The first way that comes to mind is simply dyeing the fabric. I have experimented with this and it is really fun to do but it takes lots of time and you need lots of space for this. Another way to create your own fabric designs is to paint on fabric with textile paint which is something I haven't yet tried. Another way is to bleach away colour in fabric.

I once thought to myself, there are so many wonderful textiles and designs to be found in fabric stores and flea markets or even in closets. Why would I want to make my own designs? Well, I came upon a technique that I can do fairly quickly. I have everything I need to do it and it makes my fabric unique.
What is that technique? I use my home colour printer to print onto fabric. I do have to keep in mind that the designs are not permanent so I cannot wash the fabric after it has been printed but I can use it in my fabric art.

 As I look through magazines or find designs that I like on Kleenex boxes and such or even go through my stash of completed art that maybe didn't work out as well as I thought, I collect them to use as prints on my fabric. Here's my process. I find a piece of fabric that I want to print on. It could already have a design on it or it could be a plain colour, but not something with a high pile, like velvet. I iron the fabric so it's flat but you could also leave wrinkles in it for more interest. I just have to remember that it has to be able to go through my printer. I then iron a sheet of freezer paper to it and cut out an 8.5 by 11 inch sheet to fit my printer or I'll cut a few 4 by 6 inch sizes to put into the photo drawer of the printer. I then place my design onto the scanning bed of my printer and press colour copy. The fabric goes through and comes out with the design on it. You can also scan the design into your computer and alter it first before you print it. There is much experimenting that I still want to do with this technique but so far I like the results.



Freezer paper can be found in any grocery store and
I use it extensively while making my art quilts.

I used plain muslin for these prints. I made 4X6 card sized prints
of a Kleenex box design with stones and a starfish on them.
The original box pieces are on the outside and the printed fabric are
the two middle pieces.

I also printed and old cross-stitch embroidery plan onto the muslin.
On the left is the original and on the right is the fabric copy.

Here are to cards that are ready to embellish and finish off
using the prints as background.

Another card I'm working on that I used a watercolour
painting of my own to print onto fabric.

 

Last week I promised to post my recently finished artwork that I had made for someone so here it is.

 

This is titled "Ministry". I was a very different piece of
art for me to complete but I'm happy with the way it
turned out and so are the new owners.

And here is the drawing of the latest addition to our family, my grand niece.