How to print with leaves onto fabric

Hello there!

Today we are going to do a very cool thing – printing onto the fabric with leaves. It sounds complicated at first but it is a very easy to do. You will be surprised by the result and will fall in love with the pattern. The most amazing part of it is that leaves pattern is very popular and looks cool on everything. You can make your own tablecloth or design your t-shirt or the other items in your wardrobe.

Supplies:
– Fabric paint or acrylic paint and fabric medium
– Plastic takeaway containers to mix paint in
– Cotton or cotton/linen blend fabric (prewash to remove sizing or coating if necessary)
– Small paint tray
– Small sponge roller
– Paper towel
– Brayer or a rolling pin
– Leaves
– Round stamp (optional)
– Plastic drop cloth
– Newspaper
– Iron

1. Time to gather some leaves. Go to the garden and get yourself some leaves in different shapes and sizes. I used three of them. Make sure they are clean from bugs and spider webs.  Lay them down on a flat surface to create your design.

2. Pour the colors into the containers and mix them if needed. If you’re using acrylic paint mix in the fabric medium according to the instructions on the bottle.

3. Before start painting on your actual fabric I suggest to practice on a small piece firstly. Prepare your workspace by covering it, lay down the fabric you are going to use. Cover a separate area with the newspapers to paint the leaves there.

Take the largest leave and place it on newspapers. Using the sponge roller put some paint onto the leaf. Place the leaf paint side down onto the fabric being careful not to move it. Now take a piece of paper towel and place it on top of the leaf. Roll over it with the brayer once with even pressure.

Remove the paper towel and carefully peel up the leaf to reveal the leaf print. The same leaf can be used many times, unless it is particularly small or fragile.

4. Print all of the large leaves first, leaving space between them for the other leaves. Let the first color to dry completely before starting the next. I used a kid’s round sponge stamp to add a contrasting color confetti dots to my design.

When it have dried completely iron the fabric.

Voila! Enjoy!

Source: we-are-scout.com