Decorator Fabric

Materials:

natural off-white fabrics - silks, cottons and/or linens
various spray bottles and aerosol sprayers
fabric dyes and paints
newspaper
wooden frames and T-head pins
rubber gloves
face mask
masking tape
various items to create surface interest on sprayed fabrics - i.e. open weave lace to spray through, stencils, etc.

1. Cover table or work surface with newspaper. Create a "spray booth" out of scrap cardboard to confine the spraying mess if possible. Cover floor if necessary. Working outside on a windless day is ideal for this project.
   
2. Pre-wash, dry and iron any fabrics that have sizing in them. Size will prevent the dyes from working as well.
   
3. Water down paints and dyes and fill spray bottles.
   
4. Color the fabrics using one of these techniques:

Shapes and Stencils - Place objects or stencils over fabrics and spray. Experiment with this for lots of fun results. Try leaves, sticks (figure C), grates, pieces of lace, stencils or cardboard geometric shapes (figure D).

Pleating and Gathering - Fold fabric into pleats and pin along the edges to hold in place. Spray lightly from one side of the folds. Let dry. Re-pleat and spray again. Let dry. Use two different colors. To create a checkered or tartan effect, pleat and pin fabric in the opposite direction and re-spray. It is better to build up color with layers of spray rather than soaking fabric with one heavy coat.