For this project you will need fabric of your choosing. For the outfit pictured here, I used a China silk for the top and a medium weight cotton for the sarong skirt. You will need fabric paint, a foam brush and leaves or flower petals. Make a nice, flat surface to work on, protected with wax paper or non-cling plastic. You might also need a few straight pins and, yes, I almost forgot.....lots of bright sunshine, preferably between high noon and 4pm.
1. Make a paint wash--50 percent paint with 50 percent water. The paint should not be thick. Acrylics will also work though they might render your fabric a tad less soft.
2. Wet your fabric and lay it flat on the surface. Brush on your paint. You can mix the colors if you'd like.
3. Lay the leaves and petals on the fabric and press into the paint. Make sure they are in contact with the paint. You can use straight pins if the stems won't lay flat.
4. Leave everything exposed in the bright sunlight for a couple hours. Have a glass of wine; find something else to do around the house while the sun does its job. Then when the fabric is completely dry, remove the leaves. You could stop here and make your fabric into a garment now......or......
You could embellish! Here, I've used a 3-D fabric paint squirted right out of the bottle to draw "veins" in the center of the leaves. Let dry for a few hours and enjoy the satisfaction of having created a unique and creative fabric design all by yourself!!!!!
Don't put those brushes away just yet. I've got one more fun technique arriving on the heels of this one which I guarantee will "light up" your day!!!!! Stay tuned!!!
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