Fun Fabric Guest

We've got a real treat today - former DT member Keren is back for a guest post featuring the mixed-media inks from Altenew and showing how great they are for detailed fabric stamping.  As a specialist ink they are a bit more expensive than a standard ink but we've just put them on sale so time to grab a bargain!

Hi everyone!

I’m delighted to be here doing a guest post today. I was chatting with a friend recently about the Altenew Mixed Media Inks and so I thought I’d so you the results of my experimenting to see if the inks are really worth investing in.

First up, I decided to stretch these inks to their limits- using a complex image and some difficult fabric. The stamp set) is the lovely Build-A-Flower Semi-Double Chrysanthemum plus the matching die set (which becomes important for this technique). I thought I’d see how they fared on denim- because denim is hard to stamp on! Don’t worry if you don’t sew- I’ve added a card project using fabric at the bottom of this post.

You can see that I managed to create a brooch, although I could have stencilled directly onto the jacket too. As denim is a dark colour, you need a white base. Just use your matching die set to make a stencil. I used acetate, but a thick cardstock would do too. Using white acrylic paint, just daub it through the ‘stencil’ until you have an even coat.

Next up you just need to add the layers. The Mixed Media Inks come in packs of 4 and there are some pinks and also greens. They’re currently with a big discount so well worth checking them out. I have the pinks so used just the lightest 3 colours to try out. I heat set using an iron and old piece of cloth (to protect the iron) between each layer. 

Truth be told, I was asking a lot but I think the end result, whilst not being overly crisp is pretty amazing for a rough denim. The secret to crisp fabric stamping is having a tight weave fabric. I have some white cotton which I thought I’d repeat the process on and wow, what a great result.

I added an extra layer from the stamp set to some of the light pinks and 2 layers to the others. The stamp set has 4 layers but I stopped at 3.

Then I just needed to make it into something useful !

I think I might use this to store some of my ink pads in, but they make great gifts bags too!

Now I just wanted to create a card. I used the same white cotton, just adding one flower and then die cutting and stamping the leaves from the set.

I added some interfacing and then a few French knots. It all came together really easily and then I added a sentiment from the BAF Semi-Double Chrysanthemum. 

I’ve loved giving these inks a good try out. They are definitely worth the investment, and the fact they’re multi surface is a real bonus. Try doing some stamping on any porous surface and you’ll see how versatile they are. You can still use them as you would ordinary inks on cardstock, but they’ve got extra magical powers on fabric and more!

Thanks for allowing me to be here, I’ll see you again,

Keren x