And We Have a Winner...

Blue Glue Gel and Freezer Paper

Thank you all so much for your comments over this past month. I put the names (and there were LOTS of them!) in a "hat" (really a paper bag) and had hubby pull the winner...

Congrats to:
CraftALife who commented on January 3rd. Please get in contact with me so I can send off your signed copy of Fabric Printing at Home and 1 yard of Prepared for Dyeing cotton (My email is: threadborn@cox.net).

For those of you who didn't win...I hope that you enjoyed these tutorials. You can find many more interesting fabric printing techniques using materials you have at home in my book, Fabric Printing at Home. Why not pick up a copy? It's a great family-friendly reference!

If you haven't already signed up for my FREE online newsletter, Julie B Booth Surface Design News, hop on over to my blog...the sign up is in the right-hand column. The newsletter arrives in your email about once a month and has lots of kitchen-inspired fabric printing projects.

The "reboot" of The Printed Fabric Bee continues on February 7th with the first post by Susan Purney Mark. Susan will be focusing on using painted fusibles to create texture and design on fabrics. Sounds really interesting!

Kitchen Resists with Julie B. Booth: Freezer Paper Masks and Blue Glue Gel Resist

Get some lovely color effects with freezer paper masks and glue gel resist.

Welcome to my final Kitchen Resists tutorial.  In this one we really "layer it on" using freezer paper masks and a resist made from blue school glue gel. If you can't find the blue glue gel- clear glue gel or white glue will also work. The fabrics I made in this project have many paint layers, but you can choose to apply fewer layers and still get some great results.

Don't forget to leave a comment at the end of this post or my posts from January 3 or January 10 in order to be eligible for my giveaway of a copy of my book, Fabric Printing at Home: Quick and Easy Fabric Design Using Fresh Produce and Found Objects, plus one yard of Prepared for Dyeing cotton. I'll be choosing a winner on January 31.

Layer it On! Freezer Paper Masks and Blue Glue Gel Resist
You will need the following materials for this project:

To create the mask designs:

• Prepared for Dyeing cotton fabric (or pre-washed 100% cotton fabric). I used 12" x 15" pieces.
• Freezer paper (I use Reynold's).
• Craft knife with #11 blades.
• Self-healing cutting mat.
• Optional: Small sharp scissors.
• #2 pencil (optional).
• Iron and ironing board.
• Optional: Pressing cloth.

To create resist designs:

• Blue school glue gel.
• Optional: Detailer Writer.

A Detailer Writer is a small squeeze bottle with a precision tip. Use it if you want finer lines.

To paint over the designs:

• A flat work surface covered with plastic. I like to make 15" x 20" Portable Work Surfaces with foam board covered with plastic film. Go here to learn how to make them. 
• A 15" x 20" piece of cotton or muslin for each Portable Work Surface. This fabric will act as a blotter when painting over the resist-covered fabric.
• Masking tape.
• Transparent fabric paints (I like to use Pebeo Setacolor Transparent fabric paints). Use colors straight out of the bottle or mix custom colors starting with the lightest color and gradually adding darker colors. Dilute to the consistency of light cream to help prevent breaching of (breaking through) the resist (If you use Setacolor, it will be about a 1:1.5 ratio paint to water).
• Opaque fabric paints (I like to use Pebeo Setacolor Opaque fabric paints). Use colors straight out of the bottle or mix custom colors. Do not dilute.
• Plastic containers and spoons for mixing paints.
• Foam brushes to apply transparent paints.
• Foam daubers to apply opaque paints. Go here to learn how to make them.
• Dense foam brayers (I use Testrite) to apply opaque paints.
• Glass or Plexiglas palettes to roll out opaque paints.
• Wipe-up cloth.

To set and remove the resist:

• Iron and ironing board.
• (2) Pressing cloths.
• Plastic tub that fits in your kitchen sink.
• Liquid dishwashing soap.

 
Torn Freezer Paper Masks
To create the fabrics in this project start by tearing strips of freezer paper. Iron the strips onto the fabric with the plastic-coated side facing the fabric. Strips can be ironed on horizontally, vertically or to create a grid pattern. (Optional: Use a pressing cloth over the strips to protect the iron)




First Layer: Painting Over the Strips
Paint the uncovered fabric between the freezer paper strips with alternating colors to create beautiful backgrounds with interesting color mixing.

1. Mix up two colors of transparent fabric using either the normal dilution (1 part paint to 2 parts water) or the slightly thicker dilution (1 part paint to 1.5 parts water).
2. Use foam brushes to apply the paint. Alternate the two colors and paint the fabric between strips. Paint up to and along the edge of the torn freezer paper. 

 

3. Let the paint dry completely before removing the freezer paper.

       
Notice the beautiful color mixing created by this technique.


Second Layer: Drawing Blue Glue Gel Designs
Draw designs with blue school glue gel. When dry the glue acts as a resist when adding more paint layers.

1. Use blue school glue gel directly from the bottle or squeeze some into a plastic Detailer Writer. Draw designs on the painted fabric.


2. Let the glue dry completely.


Additional Layers of Paint
After the blue glue gel dries use some of the following techniques to add paint layers over the resist.

1. Tear additional freezer paper strips and iron them onto the fabric covering different parts of the fabric from the first round (I suggest using a pressing cloth to protect your iron).


Tear additional freezer paper strips and iron them over the dried glue designs.

2. Or use a craft knife and self-healing cutting mat to cut out designs from a sheet of freezer paper, then iron it to your glue-covered fabric.
3. Mix up additional colors of either transparent fabric paint (1:1.5 ratio paint to water) or opaque paint.
4. Tape a piece of cotton or muslin to your Portable Work Surface and then tape your fabric with torn or cut freezer paper designs on top. The fabric underneath will act as a blotter, absorbing the excess transparent fabric paint, and preventing breaching of (breaking through) the resist.


Tape a piece of muslin or cotton underneath the glue-covered fabric to prevent additional layers of wet paint from seeping under the resist.

5. Use foam brushes to apply transparent fabric paint to the uncovered areas. Paint up to the edges of the torn freezer paper masks as you did with the first layer of paint. Optional: Use a wipe-up cloth to pick up excess paint.



6. To apply opaque fabric paint over torn strips or craft knife-cut designs, use foam daubers to daub paint over the exposed fabric areas and along the edges of the freezer paper masks.



7. For a soft pastel texture roll over the freezer paper masks with a paint-covered dense foam brayer. Spoon 1/4 teaspoon of opaque paint onto the glass palette. Roll out the paint until the brayer is evenly coated. Then roll over the freezer paper masks.

8. You can use one, two or all three of these paint application techniques for different effects. See the finished fabrics below and read the captions to see the sequence of paint layers.


Setting the Paint and Removing the Resist
1. See the instructions from my first blog post for setting the fabric paint.
2. To remove the blue glue gel resist: Place the resist-covered fabric(s) in the plastic tub. Add warm water and some liquid dishwashing soap. Let the fabric(s) soak for at least 10 minutes to soften the glue. Rub to remove the resist or use a soft toothbrush. You will need to occasionally dump and refill the tub with warm soapy water until all the resist is removed.

3.  I like to put the fabric through a delicate machine wash (warm or cold water with some detergent), just to be sure that all the resist is removed.
4. Machine or air dry.

Below is a selection of fabrics created with these techniques.

1. Red and blue transparent fabric paint applied over torn freezer paper strips. 2. Blue school glue gel designs drawn on fabric with Detailer Writer. 3. Second layer of torn freezer paper strips ironed to fabric exposing different areas. 4. Red and blue transparent fabric paint applied in opposite sequence to first application.



1. Yellow-green and blue transparent fabric paint applied over torn freezer paper strips. 2. Blue school glue gel designs drawn on fabric with a Detailer Writer. 3.Second layer of torn freezer paper strips ironed to fabric to expose different areas. 4. Rust brown and red transparent fabric paint applied to exposed areas. 5. Removed freezer paper strips and ironed on a new layer of torn freezer paper strips to expose different areas to paint. 6. Blue, light green and turquoise opaque fabric applied to exposed areas with a foam dauber.



1. Light blue and blue-violet transparent fabric paint applied over torn freezer paper strips (strips ironed onto fabric to form a grid design).2. Blue school glue gel designs drawn on fabric with Detailer Writer. 3. Designs cut out of a sheet of freezer paper using a craft knife. 4. Freezer paper with cut designs ironed to fabric. 5. Turquoise paint applied to open areas of freezer paper mask using a foam dauber. 6. Black paint applied over open areas of freezer paper mask using a dense foam brayer. 7. Freezer paper mask removed and fabric painted with violet transparent fabric paint.

Thank you for joining me for this first month of The Printed Fabric Bee's "reboot". I hope you've enjoyed learning about a variety of Kitchen Resists and will give them a try. For more projects like these sign up for my free online newsletter, Julie B Booth Surface Design News by going to my blog (sign up is in the right-hand column) OR pick up a copy of Fabric Printing at Home!

Remember to leave a comment for a chance to win. I'll be back to announce the giveaway winner on January 31. Good luck!
  

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Kitchen Resists with Julie B. Booth: Knotted and Wheat Flour Paste Resists

Create a Valentine's Day gift wrap with the fabric you create in this tutorial!

Hi there...It's Julie B. Booth again. I hope you enjoyed my first blog post on January 3rd. Welcome to my second post about Kitchen Resists! Today, we'll focus on using two resists to create fabric that you can use to wrap up a Valentine's Day gift for a special someone. Just a reminder that leaving a comment on this post, last week's post or my final post of the month (on January 24), makes you eligible to win a copy of my book, Fabric Printing at Home: Quick and Easy Fabric Design Using Fresh Produce and Found Objects, as well as one yard of Prepared for Dyeing cotton. For information about additional Kitchen Resists and a variety of techniques on how to use them, see Chapter 6: Irresistible: Fabric Resists Using Kitchen Ingredients in my book.


Valentine's Fabric Gift Wrap
In today's project, I'll show you how to make a Valentine's Day fabric gift wrap using two different fabric resist techniques. The first technique is a knotted resist, the second technique is a wheat flour paste resist.

Knotted Resist
For the knotted resist you'll need:

• A flat work surface covered with plastic. I like to make Portable Work Surfaces with foam board covered with plastic film. Go here to learn how to make one.

• 15" x 15" piece of Prepared for Dyeing cotton (or pre-washed white 100% cotton).

• Fuchsia and red transparent fabric paints (I like to use Pebeo Setacolor paints). Add a small amount of water to slightly dilute the paint.

• Plastic paint containers and spoons to mix the paint. 

• (2) 1" foam brushes

• Plant mister with water.

• Iron and ironing board.

1. Lightly mist the cotton fabric so the paint can penetrate the fibers. Start at one corner and roll the fabric on the diagonal into a tube.

2. Knot the fabric in several places and paint with the fuchsia and red paint.

3. Immediately, unknot the fabric and let it dry flat. When dry, iron the fabric to remove wrinkles.

Wheat Flour Paste Resist
You will now add the second resist layer to the 15" x 15" piece of fabric. 

You will need: 

• The fabric you just made.

•  An additional piece of 15" x 15" cotton fabric to use as a blotter when applying paint to the resist.

• A flat work surface covered in plastic or a Portable Work Surface (see above).

• White wheat flour.

• Water to make the paste resist, dilute paint and remove the resist.

• Container to mix up the wheat flour paste (I used a 1.75 qt Pyrex bowl).

• Measuring cups (dry and liquid).

• Wire whisk.

• Large metal spoon.

• Plant mister with water.

• Plastic spreader.

• Masking tape.

• Wooden skewer.

• Paper towel.

• Blue transparent fabric paint (I like to use Pebeo Setacolor paints). 

• (1) 2" foam brush.

• Plastic paint container and spoon to mix paint.

• Wipe up cloth. 

• (2) Pressing cloths (or pieces of cotton or muslin).

• Iron and ironing board. 

•  Plastic tub (that fits in your kitchen sink) to put fabric in to remove resist.

Mixing and Applying the Wheat Flour Paste Resist
1. The recipe for the wheat flour paste resist (from Jane Dunnewold) is 1 part white wheat flour to 1 part cold water. Pour the water into a container first, and then add the flour. Use the wire whisk to mix. The paste should be the consistency of pancake mix (you may need to adjust the ingredients to get the correct consistency). 

 2. Tape the 15" painted square of fabric to the work surface.

3. Mist the painted fabric with water. This will help the paste to better penetrate the fabric's fibers.

4. Spoon the wheat flour paste resist onto the fabric and use the plastic spreader to spread a thin even coat over the surface.

5. Let the paste-covered fabric sit for a few minutes. Then use the flat end of the wooden skewer to draw into the paste. You can draw designs or write words. Occasionally, wipe the end of the skewer on a paper towel to keep it clean.

Painting Over the Resist
1. Let the flour paste resist dry completely. Optional: After the paste is dry, carefully manipulate the paste-covered fabric to form small cracks.

2. Slip the extra piece of fabric under the paste-covered square. This extra piece of fabric will act as a blotter to absorb excess paint.

3. Mix the blue transparent paint to the consistency of light cream (about 1 part paint to 1.5 parts water). Paint over the dried resist. If the paint starts to pool, use a wipe up cloth or paper towel to soak up the excess paint. Occasionally, lift up the resist-covered fabric to view the back to see if the paint is reaching the fabric's surface.

4. Let the paint dry completely. 


Setting the Paint and Removing the Resist
1. See the instructions from my first blog post for setting the fabric paint.

2. To remove the wheat flour paste: Place the resist-covered fabric in the plastic tub. Add some liquid dishwashing soap and cool to warm water. Let the piece soak. Rub to remove the resist. You will need to occasionally dump and refill the tub until all the resist is removed.

3.  I like to put the fabric through a delicate machine wash (cold water with some detergent), just to be sure that all the resist is removed.

4. Machine or air dry.

Turn Your Fabric into a Gift Wrap
To wrap the fabric around a gift box, see the directions here (from my free online newsletter, Julie B Booth Surface Design News. Sign up at my blog if you want to receive future issues).

Hope you enjoyed this post. Be sure to leave a comment to be eligible to win the giveaway. See you on January 24th for my final Kitchen Resists tutorial.

Kitchen Resists with Julie B. Booth: Rubbings with Liquid Dishwashing Soap

Using liquid dishwashing soap as a resist.

Welcome to the first installment of The Printed Fabric Bee's reboot! Bee members are planning an exciting year of mini-workshops, projects and giveaways. It's going to be a lot of fun and I have to tell you that I also can't wait to learn some new techniques from my fellow Bee members!

 Just a quick introduction...I'm Julie B. Booth and I'm probably best known in the surface design world as the artist who gets inspired every time she walks into the kitchen! I got serious about my kitchen explorations about six years ago when I won a grant from my local fiber guild to research "kitchen resists". For an intense eighteen months I tested and fiddled and cooked and concocted. AND I learned a lot! After sharing my results with my guild, I realized that I wanted to go a step further and see what other surface design possibilities resided in the kitchen. The result was the publication of my book, Fabric Printing at Home: Quick and Easy Fabric Design Using Fresh Produce and Found Objects (Quarry Dec. 2014). My book is loaded with surface design projects that use items and materials you probably have at home right now! And my giveaway this month will be a copy of my book plus one yard of Prepared for Dyeing Cotton so you can get started right away making your own Custom Kitchen fabrics! To be eligible to win, you need to leave a comment on this post or one of the next two posts this month. I'll be choosing a winner on Sunday, January 31.

My posts, this month, focus on a few Kitchen Resists (you can find out about additional resists in Chapter 6: Irresistible: Fabric Resists Using Kitchen Ingredients) and some different techniques creating backgrounds and applying the resists. I even have one post that will get you ready for the next holiday on the calendar...Valentine's Day!

Just one more thing before we get to today's project...I'm still at it in the kitchen and I have a free online newsletter, Julie B Booth Surface Design News, where I continue to share new surface design discoveries. If you'd like to sign up, hop on over to my blog and you'll see the sign up in the right-hand column.

Kitchen Resists #1: Rubbings with Liquid Dishwashing Soap

In this project, you'll place texture plates under your fabric and then roll liquid dishwashing soap over the fabric to pick up the texture designs.

You need:

• A work area covered with plastic. I like to make Portable Work Surfaces with foam board covered with plastic film. Go here to learn how to make one.

• (2) pieces of Prepared for Dyeing Cotton fabric (or pre-washed white 100% cotton fabric) for each finished fabric you wish to make. One of these pieces will act as a blotter when applying the resist. To start, tape just one piece of fabric to the work surface. I cut 15" x 15" squares.

• Transparent Fabric Paints (I like to use Pebeo Setacolor paints). Choose 3 or 4 colors.

• Water to dilute the paints, to remove the resists and for clean up.

• Plastic containers and spoons for mixing paints.

•  Foam brushes.

•  Liquid dishwashing soap.

• Dense foam brayer (I like Testrite brand).

•  Glass or Plexiglas palette.

• Texture rubbing plates. I like to make my own with hot glue on recycled cardboard but you can also use commercial texture plates.

• Optional: Wipe up cloth or paper towels.

• Iron and ironing board.

• (2) Pressing cloths (or pieces of cotton or muslin).

• Optional: Plastic tub to put fabrics in to remove resists.

Some of the supplies needed for this project.

 Paint a Background
I like to paint a simple background design before applying the resist layer. This can be stripes or blocks of color.

1.  Dilute the fabric paints. For Setacolor, I usually dilute to 1 part paint to 2 parts water but if you want a pastel, add more water.
2. Apply the paint colors to the fabric with foam brushes.
3. Let the paints dry completely before moving to the next step.

Paint stripes or blocks of color on your fabric.

Apply the Resist

1. Tape the blotter fabric onto the work surface and then re-tape the painted fabric on top of it.
2. Slip a texture plate under the painted fabric (not under the blotter fabric).
3.  Squeeze a small amount of liquid dishwashing soap onto the glass palette and roll the foam brayer over the soap until it is evenly coated.
4. Roll the soap-coated brayer over the fabric covering the texture plate. You may need to roll over the area several times until you see the design emerge on the fabric. 
5. Shift the texture plate to another area and repeat.
6. When you are done applying the resist, let it dry before moving to the next step.

Slip a texture plate under the fabric and roll over the covered area with the resist.

Paint another Layer

1. In order to see the resist designs, you'll need to add another layer of paint. The resist will prevent the paint from reaching the fabric's surface. Mix up some paints that contrast with the first layer. This time, you'll need to mix a thicker dilution to prevent breaching (breaking through) the resist. The blotter fabric will also help. For Setacolor Transparent paints mix to the consistency of light cream (about 1 part paint to 1.5 parts water).
2. Brush the paint over the resist.  If the paint starts to pool on the fabric, use the wipe up cloth or paper towels.
3. Let the paint dry completely.

Paint another layer to reveal the resist designs.

Set the Paint and Remove the Resist

1. You need to permanently set the paint before removing the resist. Most fabric paints are heat set. Setacolor paints require five minutes of heat setting.
2.  Sandwich the resist-covered fabric between two pressing cloths. Set the iron to the cotton setting and iron for half the time on one side before flipping the entire sandwich over to iron from the other side.
3. Now that the paint is set, you can remove the resist. Soak the fabric in water and rub to remove the resist. You'll notice that the water will turn colors. Don't worry, this is just the paint that was sitting on top of the resist. Continue until the resist is completely removed.
4. I like to put the fabric through a delicate machine wash (cold water and in this case, no soap is needed) just to be sure that all the resist is removed.
5. Machine or air dry.

What Can I Do with My Fabric? 
Why not turn your fabric into a decorative mat or table runner. Go here to find out how.

I hope you enjoyed this first project. If you have questions, feel free to leave a comment. If you want to be eligible to win...also leave a comment! My next post is Sunday, January 10.