Fabric Stamping

Between preparing for and teaching my Journal to the Self journal writing class, interviewing and writing my column and a couple other articles, and working outside, I’ve been squeezing in some crafty time. Yesterday was a rainy day – a great day for this project.

The fabric I used was one of my snow dyeing pieces. I used part of this piece for my camera strap. Since this was not my favorite, I thought it would be a good one to practice on.

First I raided the kitchen.

apple, orange and
apple, orange, and turnips
Stamping with an orange
Stamping with an orange

I applied my Claudine Hellmuth Studio paint with a brush to the orange.  Then I tried the apple.

Stamping with an apple
Stamping with an apple

The turnips did not work for me. They were just blobs of paint – not what I was looking for. I did learn that you don’t need much paint on the fruit.

Closeup of fruit printing
Closeup of fruit printing

Then I pulled out these wood stamps I’ve been dying to use. I bought these at this Etsy shop. They are hand carved and just beautiful to hang around my studio/woman cave. But being the practical person I am, I had to try them on the other end of this fabric.

Hand carved wood textile block stamps
Hand carved wood textile block stamps
Using wood stamp
Using wood stamp

 

Finished stamping with wood carved stamps
Finished stamping with wood carved stamps

If you have never used fruit or vegetables to print on fabric – apply paint with a paint brush – not a sponge brush. You don’t want a lot of paint. I practiced stamping them on another piece of fabric to get some of the paint off until I had an idea of the amount of paint I really needed.

For the wood fabric stamps I also applied just a little paint and used a mouse pad or similar material under where you stamp to get a better impression.

Now I feel more comfortable stamping on “good” fabric. However, if you have any tips, please share.