How do you make your own fabric prints?

How to make hand prints from paint permanent on fabric?

• I have a friend who spend a lot of time in the hospital due to illness and I would like to make her some hospital gowns with her 8 year old daughters' hand prints on some for the times they are apart. I have plain craft paint and would like to know what I can do to make them permanent.

• Answer:

  Just a note of explanation. "Fabric paint" IS acrylic paint (...the "craft" paint sold in small bottles is almost always acrylic). Fabric paint has just had some acrylic "textile medium" mixed into it to make it less stiff when it dries, etc. You can buy your own textile medium to mix into acrylic paints yourself if you want... just look near the bottom shelves at Michaels for all the "acrylic mediums" (there will be a lot of types, but you want "textile" medium). Acrylic paint is permanent *once it dries* and will go through the washer and dryer quite well (it's best to wait a week or so for the paint to fully "cure" though). Some of the *non-permanent* paints would be true watercolors, tempera and poster paints, etc. You can also thin down any acyrlic paint with textile medium or just with water to make watercolor effects, for example... water will tend to make the color a bit paler than textile medium. One fun thing to do is to make a handprint (or any other "painting") on a t-shirt, etc., with thinned down acrylics, then draw around the outside of them with a permament marker after they're dry. Don't use a Sharpie though, it'll turn kind of yellowish over time... use pigment type pens like Pigma, etc. which come in various thicknesses-- or use a "fabric marker"; those often come in colors too. To stabilize the fabric while using the pens or markers, it can be helpful to stick the fabric to a folder or something else stiff coated with a temporary self-adhesive spray, or to iron it to the shiny side of freezer paper, etc. After they've outlined the hands or other drawings, they can also add little details inside the drawings with the pens, or put happy faces or flowers there and there, etc. If the paint is thinned enough (or if it's sprayed before drying), it will spread out and possibly mingle with colors close to it, which can be very pretty for flowers or just random blobs of color (the latter could also be used as backgrounds for well-wishes, or stampings with pigment inks, or other things). You can also do some of the parts first, then let dry... that way any additional paints you add won't make the first ones spread. Oh, and textile medium (or other acrylic mediums, I guess) can also be used as a clear, permanent carrier for glitter, which they'd probably enjoy too. You'd need to use the very fine polyester "microglitters" though intended for use on fabric (and washing/drying) --not the ordinary craft glitters. The microglitters could be mixed into the liquid then painted or swiped on, or the liqiud could be applied first as long as its thick enough, then have the glitter could be sprinkled over it. You can also have them cut shapes from sponges of any kind then use those for stamping onto the fabric, or apply random drips/lines of paint to a small square or other shape of aluminum foil then carefully stamp that onto the fabric. Other kinds of stamps could be fruits or veggies cut so they have one flat side, or carved into shapes (e.g., a star cut from the end of a carrot). Oh, yet another fun possibility would be drawing, stamping (with stamps or sponges, etc.), stenciling onto solid color fabrics with liquid bleach to create white patterns. You can use a household cleaner instead of straight bleach which won't destory the fibers as quickly (e.g., SoftScrub gel or any product like that with bleach in it like Cascade dishwasher gel)... just apply, then wash out (works best on natural fiber fabrics. Or use regular bleach, but wash out very quickly... bleach in a spray bottle could be fun. Thoughful thing to do!... and any other way the kids decorated extra-large soft t-shirts or other things their mom could wear, would also be appreciated, I'm sure. Diane B.