Refashionista: Adding a geometric pattern to a jacket with fabric paint

Hi, guys! I don't know about you, but I can get very attached to a piece of clothing. There are pieces I've worn 10+ years, and still love. So, it's especially sad, when one of those pieces gets ruined by stains. Which is exactly what happened to my white summer jacket.

I've had this jacket since forever. Actually, it was one of the first things I ever purchased at H&M. I got it on a choir trip to Germany after 10th grade, and I remember stepping into the famous store. H&M opened their first store in Estonia only last year, so going to one was always an abroad "must".

I've worn this jacket so much over the years, and it was still in great condition until I spilled grape juice over the back and the sleeve. How do you spill juice on the back of a jacket, you ask? Let's just say, that dripping straws get places. After about 5 attempts to get the stains out, I realized it wasn't going to happen, so I came up with another plan.

Being over-excited about fabric paints (proof here, here and here), it was a no-brainer really. So, I came up with the idea of covering the stains with a fun, colorful, tribal-inspired geometric pattern.

Here's what you need:
1) Old garment that needs a face-lift
2) Cardboard, pencil, scissors
3) Black permanent marker
4) Fabric paints

Here's how:

First, test your design idea on a sheet of paper of cardboard and see if it would fit the space you want to fill. I drew my idea up and cut away one of the bigger triangles to see if it would cover the biggest stain .

 1. Using your sketch as guide, cut out the elements you need for your design. I cut out 3 different sized triangles.
2. Place a plastic bag under the section of garment you're about to paint, otherwise the paint might run through to another layer of fabric.
3. Start drawing the pattern on the garment. I started from the center to make sure it's symmetrical, and that the stain gets entirely covered. Use the permanent marker to draw the outline of the first pattern piece on the garment. Be careful to double check the placement, since permanent markers really are permanent.
4. Continue to draw the pattern on your garment, completing the first row, and moving upwards from there.
5. Once the pattern is complete and your happy with the way it turned out, start painting the insides of the pattern pieces in the color-way of your choice.
6. Let the paint dry completely and then iron through a sheet of paper (or as instructed on the fabric paint bottles).

 Love this new colored pattern! An easy and fun fix for stains. I'm thinking of going with just 1 or 2 colors next time. Maybe something that's a contrast to the black. Or, I might omit the black line all-together, and makes just paint colorful triangles. So many options to try...

Hope you like this refashion as much as I do, and that you got some ideas for adding a pattern to an old garment.

Have fun crafting!
xo Hanna

DIY Paint splatter t-shirt

Hey, guys! It's been a while since I did a DIY on the blog, so I'm excited to share this tutorial with you today. It's a simple project suitable for a complete DIY newbie, so if you've been meaning to make your first project, but don't know where to start, try this to get the ball rolling.

I've been wanting to experiment with fabric paint for quite some time now, and then one day I got this idea to make a paint splatter t-shirt. I think we all remember this technique from elementary school. You don't need to be an artist to create amazing patterns with this method. So, I bought some paint and went for it.

You will need:

• Plain t-shirt (a light color is best, although they do sell fabric paint for dark colored fabric as well)
• Fabric paint (I used 3 different colors from Dylon: deep pink, yellow, and turquoise)
• Small artist brush (the exact size depends on your preference)
• 1 big trash bag
• 2 plastic bags
• scrap fabric for practice

STEP 1

Prep your crafting area for paint. Cut a big trash bag open and lay it one the ground. The fabric paint does come off easily with water, but who wants to spend extra time cleaning up after. Also, prep your t-shirt by placing one (or 2, depending on the size) plastic bag inside the t-shirt. This prevents the paint from leaking through to the other side of the tee.

STEP 2 (optional)

Practice your splatter technique on a scrap piece of fabric to get you wrist action and tapping action going. Also, this will give you a good idea of how much paint to put on the brush, if you need a thicker brush, or if your happy with the pattern you're creating. I was happy with my platter, although I initially thought the splatter would be bigger. For me, the smaller splashes and dots were ok, but you might want to try out different size brushes.

STEP 3

Once your happy with your technique and splatter size, it's time to splatter on the first layer of paint. I wanted my splatter to cover only one half of the t-shirt front and run diagonally from one shoulder to the opposite corner. 

I used the darkest color first, but you can choose the order yourself. Once your happy with your first layer, let dry. 

Repeat with the other fabric paint colors and once your happy with the design, let it dry completely. Once it's dry, iron it as instructed on the paint label.

I think this t-shirt turned out pretty cool, so I'm dreaming up new ways to use fabric paint. I love wearing my new tee with my overalls. Makes me look bad-ass (or so I think).

Have fun splattering!

xo Hanna

P.S. I developed this tutorial for the Estonian fashion magazine MOOD (it was published in the May issue), and they were kind enough to let me share it with you as well.

DIY: Patterned fabric with fabric paint

I've had the idea of trying to paint a pattern on fabric with textile paint for the longest time, but until now I never really got around to it. But then, on a trip to one of my favorite local crafting supply stores, I noticed this shelf of fabric paints. And among them, a gorgeous golden paint. How could a girl resist? The next thing I knew, the paint was already in my hand at the register. Funny how that happens sometimes, right?

Anyway, I couldn't wait to try it out! I chose to go with a simple background and a simple print. Here's the printing process:

For the fabric I chose a black vintage corduroy from my stash. I loved the idea of having a textured fabric as the background for the print. That way I would end up with two different textures, and that's all the more interesting, I think.

The supplies needed for this project are minimal:

• a pair of scissors 
• a dishwashing sponge  
• a small plastic container 

1. Start by cutting out a circle from the sponge. I used a glass bottom to guide my hand when tracing the circle onto the sponge. Then, use scissors to cut out the circle.

2. Now that you're ready to start printing, pour a little bit of fabric paint into the container. Take your circle sponge, press it into the paint and then onto the fabric. As you can see, not all my circles came out perfectly evenly covered. I noticed that the sponge started to soak in the fabric in some places more than others.
I used a pretty neat layout for my print, but you could use a more random approach, or use different size sponge circles. I can only imagine the cool prints you could make!

3. Once you're done printing, let the fabric dry completely and then iron it through paper (or as instructed on the label of the fabric paint).

That's how my printed fabric turned out. I love it! Seriously, it's a very rewarding process. It's fast and the end result is so cool.

I used my newly printed fabric to make myself this fold-over clutch. I've been dying to sew myself one, but, once again haven't gotten around to it. So, this project was really two long-time crafting ideas in one. I added a small leather loop on both sides of the clutch so I could attach a removable chain strap as well. I've found that as cute and fashionable as clutches are, they can also be a little un-practical at times. So, a removable strap is a must on all my clutches to give them as much use as possible.

I really wanted to do a tutorial on the fold-over clutch as well, but then I did all the sewing steps in the wrong order and I really wouldn't want to teach you how to sew a simple clutch in the most complicated way possible. Luckily, there are others who have done it right, so if you'd like to learn, here's a great tutorial.

Have you tried fabric paints for printing?