Do you love printing on fabric so much as I do? :)

In this tutorial I want to share with you this fascinating process.

So, printing on fabric with acrylic paints using stamps or woodblocks (cube stamps), as they were called in Russia. I will not go into details but let me just say that printing exists for a long time and the process is quite similar in different countries. Now this art has again become featured. The prints are shipped mainly from India, but, if you wish, you can make them yourself.

Now it's not about the stamps, but printing.

For this you need:

1) Acrylic paints for printing on fabric (not to be confused with paints for batik). There are quite a lot manufacturers so I will tell about the paints I used personally.

PLAID Folk-Art and Martha Stewart paints. American paints have a very rich palette of colours. There are multipurpose acrylic paints for any surface or specially for fabric. Both and fine. The paints are thick and require a special diluent (Medium). Not long ago, these paints could be found at a price equal to Russia-made ones.

A Russian alternative is Decola for fabric (Textile Decola). Good paint with good consistency (no need to dilute).The palette is not rich, but can be mixed with almost any colour. Though, the quality is unstable, probably depends on the batch.

2) A small flat container with a rim. Since we are not going to print on an industrial scale, a plastic lid would be good for our purposes;

3) An ordinary sponge for washing dishes, cut in small pieces (it is irrational to use a large one as paint remains on the sponge);

4) Stamps. Indian wooden, or plastic for scrapbooking or just made from potatoes. I make stamps myself and will use them for printing;

5) Fabric. Prints look very nice on linen. You can use any other natural fabric. Both thick and thin, from crinoline to gauze;

6) Fabric as a soft underlay for the main fabric on which you will print. The point is that when you print using solid wooden stamps, you need a soft base, which will distort and the inprint from the stamp will be more clear, as if you printed on fabric laid simply on the table. The fabric should not be very thin or very thick. I used an old flannelette baby blanket as a base.

So, start. I made new stamps on the theme of summer grass and I can't wait trying them. For this I cut out a piece of fabric for towels.

Dilute (if necessary) the paint to the desired consistency with a sponge, and apply to the stamps with soft smacking movements. Not much or insufficient. A little paint will not properly stamp, too many will leave runs on the edges of the picture. You can determine the quantity only empirically. No doubt, try first on a scrap.

After inking the stamp, press it against the cloth with force for a short time; sometimes a rubber hammer is used for these purpose not to apply extra force. An imprint turns out. Try to do everything with the first attempt, it is very difficult to reach the same place for the second time.

Print on, stamp for stamp, plant by plant.

I felt taste for it and made 3 different patterns.

I pre-determined the composition for the third towel, arranged the stamps on the surface. If the stamps are clean, it is better to lay them down, then there will be no confusion with the mirror effect.

It is very important to wash the stamp immediately safter printing. Paint dries out quickly and the sooner you wash the stamps, the easier it will be done. I washed in warm water using an old toothbrush. If the stamps have a good resistance to water, the paint is washed off from them without a trace.

I dry them with the pattern down leaned on a kind of a step, so that water flowed out from the surface and ventilated well. I do not recommend drying on a battery, for obvious reasons. The proper care of stamps is a guarantee that they will serve you many years :)

After you print the stamps, leave the cloth to dry for several hours, then fix the paint on the fabric with a hot iron. The fabric can be turned over and ironed with rather a hot iron from the back side, but I iron the right one. If the paint is qualitative, the iron will not be stained. (This happens sometimes with poor paints, especially on dark or dense fabrics).

Fabric with fixed patterns can be washed and ironed, but this should be done delicately. Usually it is recommended to hand wash in water up to 40 degrees.

I want to add that I do not consider myself a super craftsman in hand printing, but I love to do it and share my little experience with you to help you with printing at the very beginning. And if you know something interesting about the craft or have been at a workshop of an advanced craftsman, share these secrets in the comments :) Wish you all joy and good luck :)

Thank you for your attention :)