Did you know that you can paint fabric with house paint? It’s true! I found a really cute dress at Goodwill Outlet, but the color didn’t suit my tastes, so I used some leftover paint to give it a makeover. The key is to mix the house paint with fabric medium, which can be bought at any craft store or ordered online from Amazon. Here is a picture of what the dress originally looked like.
I used a light grey color for the base coat. Then I made a triangle shaped “stamp.” I folded a small, square cardboard box diagonally creating a right triangle. Then I covered the bottom with aluminum foil. The reason for the foil is to protect the cardboard from the wet paint.
I put the dress on a mannequin when I was “stamping” it, because I wanted to make sure my triangles aligned correctly. The bust was the most difficult part because of the extra fabric.
The “stamp” worked fairly well, but it didn’t leave crisp lines, so I did some touch ups with a paintbrush at the end.
It’s definitely not perfect, but I actually don’t mind. It has a lot of character.
The one thing I wish was that I had used a bit more fabric medium. The dress is a little stiff. It is kind of hard to tell from the photos, but it doesn’t flow very well with movement.
I am hoping that as I wash the dress more and more times, it will become softer. Luckily it has a liner underneath, so the painted fabric doesn’t directly touch my skin. I would imagine that it might itch if it did rub against my skin.
Overall, I think it was a worthwhile makeover. I’m planning on wearing it to Bumbershoot tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be nice. I hope everyone has a happy Labor Day Weekend!