Giveaway is closed. Congratulations to Darla Catalano from Lancaster, PA! Stay tuned for more craft giveaways.
I don’t care what the Borg said (for all of your Star Trek fans), resist is not futile. In fact it’s fun and quite easy!
While working on my review of Art Cloth by Jane Dunnewold, I played with one of her resist techniques. But before I show you that, let me tell you about this book and my giveaway!

If you have ever wanted to create some beautiful fabric, this is just the information you need. Jane Dunnewold walks you through the steps to creating some absolutely to-die-for art cloth. Her chapters include Adding color with dyes and textile paints, Discharge Methods, Making Tools: Stamps and Stencils, Water Based Resists, Screenprinting, and Foiling and Leafing.
In each chapter she provides a supply list, and step-by-step instructions with color photos. At the end of the chapter she lists questions and answers that could help the reader troubleshoot any problems with the techniques. Looking at the back of the chapter on water-based resists, a couple of her troubleshooting Q & A included Did you allow the resist to dry completely? Removing resist too early can compromise color, pattern, or both and Was fabric with a soy-wax resist immersed in a hot dyebath too soon, melting the wax? Cool the dyebath slightly before adding the cloth. The book is like having her standing right next to you as you try these different methods.
It is evident that Ms Dunnewold is enthusiastic and passionate about her craft. She says, “You hold in your hands my best shot at sharing reliable processes with you…Art cloth can be anything, but a great place to start is with the layering process. Perhaps as you add layers to your cloth, you’ll peel back a few about yourself. There is a rich opportunity to discover yourself through making.”
So before I tell you about the giveaway, let me show you one of the techniques I learned from this book. It’s using water-soluble glue as a resist with textile paints.

Before you start, you need to make a padded base to work on. I covered a piece of plywood with two layers of felt. Then to keep the felt clean, I slipped an old pillowcase over it. Now I had my work surface that I’ll be able to use over and over because I know there will be more resist in my future!
Now to the fabric. She says you can experiment with a variety of fabrics but I used my 100% cotton muslin I had in my stash.
1. Wash and dry the fabric.
2. Pin it to the padded work base.
3. This is where the fun comes in! Apply your glue. It must be water-soluble so I used Elmer’s School Glue. You can stamp or draw or whatever you want to do with this glue. I just drew some lines and circles.

4. Now we need to wait until it dries – at least 24 hours. (I hate waiting, but it was worth it!) As she said, the fabric must be dry to touch.
5. After it is dry, apply your textile paints. I used some cheap ones I’ve had around the house.

6. Heat set the paint. I did this by placing a piece of parchment paper over the right side of the fabric (to protect the iron) and ironed.
7. Wash the fabric in cool water in the washing machine. It took two cycles to get most of the glue out. I ended up rubbing the rest off.
And this is what I ended up with. Drum roll….

Pretty neat. Jane goes on to say you can now add more resist and add more coloring. I’m not ready to mess up this masterpiece just yet. Now, I’ve been thinking about all of the different things I can try with this technique – stamping, stenciling, writing – and on and on. Also, it would be fun to experiment with different fabric.
I like this because it’s easy and again I’m using stuff I already have around the house. Another great project with kids except for the glue waiting!
This was just one of the techniques in the resist chapter. It’s a great book if you want to really learn how to make art cloth.
Now for the giveaway, this giveaway is open to US readers only. To enter all you need to do is comment on this post and be sure you leave your email address for me to contact you. Winner will be drawn by random.org. The deadline to enter is Thursday, August 19 at 8 am Central Standard Time. If you don’t win, you can purchase this book Here. This is another wonderful craft book from Interweave Press. Good Luck!
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are 100% my own. I was under no obligation to offer a positive review and received no monetary compensation. The giveaway prize being offered is the review copy I received.
Oh I must have this book – looks wonderful – thanks!
what an awesome technique. Please enter me for the draw…..I can’t wait to try this one out.
Awesome technique……now I have something new to learn. Would love to win the book 🙂
dj_enns@yahoo.com
Thanks
Those are all good colors for overdying with something yellow!
oh my..if l don’t win it..l will have to go and buy it..it is gorgeous. a) thanks for doing this give away and b) thanks for introducing me to this amazing book. I do a lot of dying..as in material and cloth!!Ha, silk painting and batik..and love learning more about all the techniques l use.xxlove your blog and so glad l came across it the other dayxxlynda
What a fabulous book – would love to win a copy! I have one of her older books (Complex Cloth) that is still a favorite. I’ve also been fortunate enough to see some of her fabric at the Quilt Festival here in Houston and it is drop-dead gorgeous!
And your glue resist fabric turned out great!
What a great technique! I already have a thousand things going in my head for this and I just know that my creative mom will love it, too! Thank you so much for the opportunity to win this great book!
Looks like a great book and fun technique. Please enter me
What a great project! The book sounds amazing. I think this is a project I could handle with the kiddos at school.
What a great giveaway…and now I’m wanting to go try the resist w/ Elmer’s glue, too. I love learning new techniques!
Peace & Love,
~Barb~
What a great review! I now want to give this book to my sister, who is really getting into fabric crafts lately. Your results look like a batik!! Please enter my name for the drawing.
By the way, I love how you were so honest and ethical in stating every detail of the background of your review. We need more bloggers like you around, Lynda. 🙂
I love the look of your piece. Enter me in your give away.
Oh my goodness I cant believe how gorgeous this turned out with such common products. And its funny because I just tried a similar technique, but with paper, tacky glue, and ink. Just reminded me so much of it and I love it. Please enter me into your drawing. Thank you so much for such a fab tutorial.
Oh My Gosh!!! This is so neat!! I want to try this out and keep adding the glue and dye it over and over again just to see what I end up with. Thank you so much for the inspiration, like I said this is neat and you could start out with colored cloth too!! (I don’t know but it is worth a try) Thank you pennykitz@charter.net
I have spent two summers learning a ton of mixed-media techniques, to the point that I think I see myself as an artist (after 43 years of feeling not artistic and wishing I was). The ideas you are sharing for fabric seem like the next logical step, and I look forward to giving fabric a try. Thank you!
what a wonderful giveaway!
You are very generous. Looks like a fabulous book.
Wow! I need to pull some muslin out of my stash and give this a try. I love the piece you came up with. I am already wondering if you mixed a little water-based ink to the glue and then put it on, what would happen. Hmmm … a new weekend project coming up. Thank you for sharing this great review with precision and detail.
Please do enter me into your drawing. I would love to win this book.
Your sample is very cool. I know I can’t win, but thought you would like to see I enjoyed this.
Even though I’m not in the US and I can’t enter – I can still say WOW what a great book and fun technique! TFS!
Helen — Firenze Cards
Looks like fun. I’ve heard about using glue as a resist, but had not yet seen it demonstrated. You did a great job making it seem doable even for a beginner like me. Thanks.
Oops. I had my email incorrect. This is the right one. Thanks.
These techniques are so good – and I like them because I don’t have to go out and buy expensive dyes and fabrics. Making these fabrics sounds like a lot of fun!!
I’ve got to try that!!! Very impressed and anxious to win that book…if not, I’ve got to buy it. Thanks for sharing!
This looks like fun! Thanks for the giveaway.
What an ausome technique! Love to win. Janey
Oh my! What a gorgeous look. I’m an avid papercrafter, but you’ve got me digging through my piles (yes, piles) of fabric to see if I have anything worthy of this technique. I love to see crossover in art–things that I create with paper are similar to other techniques with different substrates. Sometimes only a supply or two changes, but the proccesses remain the same.
This is a fabulous creation! Please enter me in your drawing~it would be a pleasure to have that book among my collection!!
WOW! That is so cool. It seems so simple, but it is wonderful. I’d like to use a piece in a quilt. Thanks for sharing.
This seems like a really neat technique. Only question I have is about the washer, did the glue leave any residue in your washer? Could this step be done by handwashing?
Thanks for sharing this technique and what a wonderful idea to give a book away. Paying it forward!
Jeanie, I was a tad concerned about that too since we have a three-year old front loader, but it worked out fine. I’m sure you could do it by hand but it will take quite a while to get all of the glue off of it. I was going to do that until I tried washing it by hand. Another tip might be not to put on so much glue. This was my first time so I really probably used way too much glue which made it harder to remove.
Can’t wait to try the technique… Please enter me for the giveaway. Thanks! Lisa
Looks like a great book! Please enter me in your drawing.
This is an exciting technique. Can’t wait to try it.
Sheila
Lyndah, thanks for a great review, looks like a must have book – pity I can’t enter the draw!
Wow, I would LOVE to have this book … I so want to start using fabric more … just need a good how to book!
This book sounds so cool! I haven’t played with fabric and paint in a long time, time to dig out my supplies and have some fun 🙂
Brenda
bdeer2@yahoo.com
This is very cool. Even I may be able to do this! (NOT crafty at all)!
Excellent technique! Love your projects!!
My daughter and I would love trying some of the techniques in this book.
This looks great! Just got a cloth journal, and looking for creative ideas! Thanks for the post!
lavender.kiss536@gmail.com
I’m wondering if that would work for knitted items out of natural fibers….Interesting technique. Thank you.
I’ve recently begun exploring surface design; went to a great Golden workshop on the subject and would love to have this book to continue my exploration.
What a wonderful book! I look forward to playing with these new techniques. Please enter me in the drawing.
I’ve been wanting to work on cloth! This book looks fabulous and and thank you for the opportunity to win it! I hope that I win.
Looks like an extremely interesting book…please enter me in the drawing! 🙂
How cool is that? I have wanted to do resist fabric painting for a couple of different pieces I am working on and this is a perfect way to do it!! I would love to have this book to help spark the creativity to a new level!! Thanks for the blog tip!!! ~J
Super cool technique! Hope I win. 🙂
what a great idea…please enter me.
Miriam.cutelis@yahoo.com
Thanks, Miriam
Love what you did with this technique. I’ve worked a little with batik and loved the results. I would love to put this book to use. Maybe then I could pass it on too!
This looks like a really fun and informative book. I love this glue resist technique and it looks like it would be great for zentangles which I love to do, but to put them on fabric and canvas, both for mixed media and art journaling. This looks like a must have book for any artist and I would love to have it.
Please enter me for this drawing and thank you for sharing this book and one of its ideas.
Thank you,
Dorothy Roller
I love that piece of fabric you painted! I have never thought of being able to use glue as a resist! Great idea, I can’t wait to try it! I would love to get my hands on that book to learn more!
Thanks for sharing…and thanks for the Borg joke…I LOVED it!
Neat Giveaway…I have her first book Complex Cloth and it is excellent!
What a wonderful give-away! This sounds like a great addition to any artists collection, and I would love to be entered into the drawing! The resist technique is very cool- TFS!
Great technique – I would love this book for my collection – thanks so much for the contest!
That looks like fun!
I had the pleasure of taking a class from Jane Dunnewold
several years ago. She is a great teacher and very knowledged in her field. If this book is as good as Complex Cloth it has to be a winner.
Thanks for the contest, someone will have a ball trying new techniques.
Wow Loved the technicque…must try it! Thankyou very much and would love to win the book so I can try more!!!!Hugs,Ina
The colors are so vibrant! I love how the areas where the glue was really stayed clear. This came out really well, I’m definitely going to try this out. It seems like a pretty hassle free way to make some fun designs.
What an interesting book, I would love to add it to my collection as I am working in Mixed Media and have just started adding fabic to my works. I love creating my own designs on anything I can find in my house that can be used for Mixed Media because I LOVE TEXTURE!
Please enter me in the give away and thanks for this great website!
I keep thinking that surface design is where I’m headed. Its just that I know nothing about it… yet! I just think that many of my doodles, mandalas, acrylic paintings and drawings would look good as a surface design. Hmmmmm maybe this book will be just the inspiration that I need!
That looks fun and easy. I bet my kids would enjoy this!
Wow, I would *love* to have this book! I’m mostly home bound, a real-life “bubble girl,” for now, but I’m hopeful to be able to be in the environment safely again someday. At the moment, some things that they are doing to heal and strengthen past brain injuries/developmental impairments render me completely vulnerable to the environment–sensory, chemical, allergic, an over-excitable immune system, so I rarely venture out, without equipment that makes me look like a visitor from Mars! The medical problems cause varying intensities of pain, discomfort, and distress, depending upon the ability of my mind to process and smooth it out again. Art and journaling are my sole means of doing this, and general “getting my zen on,” and I love fabric and would like to learn more about playing with it in my art.
Everything I have–journals, notebooks/binders, storage containers, pill bottles, shopping bags, and more are fair game. This gives me something to do with my hands, keep me in the moment, open up creative flow, and make things easier for me to locate, even from across the room! I am keen to try new techniques that can expand what I can do in exploring fabric, as this I can do from my chair, and easily integrated into my totally intuitive “automatic drawing/painting” process.
Please do keep me in mind for this drawing/giveaway. And thank you so much for such a “random act of art kindness”!!
How FUN! I love resist work! This is quite inspiring!
Your resist turned out beautifully! Would love to try it, and the others in the book. Thanks for this post. Nancy
Thank you SO much! I can’t tell you how excited I am to win this book and how much I’m looking forward to trying out the techniques. Yay! Can’t wait to get started!
Darla, You are so welcome. Enjoy! You’ll see it soon in your mailbox.
Your cloth turned out really cool.. Jane is one of my favorite resources.
Kathy, Thanks. I really had fun doing it but still haven’t made anything with all of the fabric!
Just came upon this today.
Loved your tutorial!
This is wonderful! I did a lot of resist dying in the 70s but none since then. Then it was hot wax. Never knew that it was possible to use School Days Elmers Glue!
Glad you found me! I know it was so neat to try this with glue and it worked!
i cannot wait to do this with he kids!
Your sample here is so much more fun and interesting than the way Julie chose to use the glue on Scrapooking Soup. I’m somewhat disappointed in her sample. I bet that glue took FOREVER to dry on yours it’s so thick! But it made a very fun piece of cloth.
kathy recently posted..Just Stuff
Oh yeh, one more thing….LOVE the title of this blog post…resistance is futile!!! Ha ha ha!
kathy recently posted..Just Stuff
Jane, You will have so much fun with this and so will the kids! I love doing this but you have to wait for the glue to dry. Guess it’s a good lesson for kids (and adults) on delayed gratification!
Kathy, I’ve not seen the episode yet so I didn’t know what she did. I look forward to seeing in. Thank you for your kind words.