CLOTHING HACKS
Customizing with Acrylic Paint
Learn how to customize a denim jacket with acrylic paint and make unique clothing! If you mix your paint with fabric medium and iron your painting, you can create washable and wearable art! Step by step instructions and a video tutorial.
CUSTOMIZED JACKET - LIST OF SUPPLIES
- denim jacket, thrifted, old or new
- acrylic paint; I used cheap craft paints. Colors: burnt umber (=dark brown), warm white, raw sienna, yellow sun, lemon yellow, lime green, turqoise
- fabric medium; I used Rayher Deco Art Textil-Malmedium, which is a German brand, but there are other options available as well
- medium sized flat brush and small pointed brushes
- OPTIONAL: fabrick paint with glitter; I used Lefranc & Bourgeos Déco Textil Crystal Glitter paint.
- iron for ironing and fixing the paint
HOW TO PAINT ON FABRIC WITH ACRYLIC COLORS
If your denim jacket is brand new, you'll have to wash and iron it first. If your jacket is old, it's good to iron it anyway to create an even surface.
Mix a little bit of each color with fabric medium - the ratio is half and half. If you mix colors with each other, mix the colors first and add equal amount of fabric medium to that mixture. Stir carefully.
Start painting from the background. If you're painting sunflowers and daisies - one of the easiest flowers for beginners - paint the brown centers of sunflowers and dark green stems first using a flat brush. Let dry at least 1-2 hours. You can use a stencil with sunflowers or just paint with free hand. Add details with small brushes. Let dry. Add a little bit of glitter paint here and there, if you like.
You can also paint the front pockets and add some bees as I did, if you like. To see how to paint sunflowers, daisies and bees, just check out the video tutorial (link below)!
When you're finished with the painting, let it dry for 24 hours before ironing. Iron the back side first and use a cloth between the painting and your iron when you iron the front side. Keep the iron moving so that the painting won't get burnt. It's good to expose the painting to heat for at least 1-2 minutes to make it permanent, but follow the instructions of the manufacturer, if they tell otherwise. After ironing you can hand wash your jacket - or machine wash using the hand wash option - in mild temperature.
VIDEO TUTORIAL
You'll find the video tutorial with voice over and more close up photos of the customized denim jacket on Youtube:
© Auer Media / 2019-06-14