[Ansteorra] painting fabric (was: Making a wall hanging . . .)

[Coblaith Muimnech]

willow wrote:
> Some of the Web sites tell you to prepare the Fabric with Gesso or to 
> prepaint it.. . .The more paint you put on the wall hangings the 
> stiffer they become. If they are kept on a wall they will stiffen up 
> and the paint will even break if you try to move it. If they are kept 
> in storage for long periods they sometime glue themselves together.. . 
> .Mistress Branywn had use scrub the first layer of paint into the 
> fabric to make sure it linked with the fabric. I find this better.

> I use water base Latex house paint.mixed with any kind of acyclic 
> paints hobby paints.

Your choice of paints may have something to do with the problems you've 
observed.  A good fabric paint should give you better adhesion and more 
flexibility.

I make t-shirts for my lord using fabric paints.  They get sweat, food, 
and miscellaneous dirt all over them, are wadded up and shoved in a 
hamper, then rub against other clothes in the washer and tumble around 
in high temperatures in the dryer and come out ready to wear again.  
They last for years under those conditions, being worn once or twice a 
week on average.

Fabric paint does cost more, ounce for ounce, than house paint.  But I 
think the difference in the finished product is well worth the 
difference in price.  And it's not exactly expensive, in any event.  
The 18-by-14-inch section I painted on the most recent t-shirt I made 
required about a dollar and a half's worth of paint, and that's for 
solid coverage.  If the fabric had provided one of the colors (as it 
usually does on a banner), it would've been less.

You could also buy fabric medium to add to your artists' acrylics, if 
you prefer.  I've never tried that approach.  I doubt it gives the same 
results as fabric paint, but it would likely be an improvement over 
unaltered paints intended for rigid, impermeable surfaces.  There are 
many brands on the market.  A search for "fabric medium" will net 
information on them.


Coblaith Muimneach
<mailto:Coblaith at sbcglobal.net>