Paint Disaster to Watercolor Skirt

You may know that Sage and I met at work. It was in our first post, and you guys read everything that we write…. RIGHT?

What you probably don’t know is that Sage recently DESERTED ME for an exciting new job. After much sulking and waffling, I begrudgingly agreed to continue this blog with her and maintain a tenuous creative partnership and friendship (albeit one now tinged with betrayal).

Since we are supposedly going to remain friends, I also had to throw her a proper goodbye party. In true Sage fashion, I decided to use this opportunity to make all of our co-workers do a craft with us. I picked painting tote bags because it is affordable, quick, and accessible for people of all skill sets. I brought in tote bags, fabric paint, brushes, painters tape (for taping off designs), and some stencils of leaves and letters.

It was a blast, ifidosaysomyself. It was so fun to see our co-workers engaged in a different sort of task, and we were really impressed by some of the creations.

Sage made a simple and chic diamond design, and I (as usual) went a bit crazier with color and texture.

However, amidst all of the festivities, I got a little of the fabric paint on my skirt. Who wears a light colored skirt to a painting party anyway?!

It isn’t a fancy skirt by any means (I think it was $30) and I’ve gotten good use out of it, so I didn’t really mind. However, it still fits, and I had leftover fabric paint from the party, so I decided to try to salvage it. I mean, what do I have to lose?

DIY Watercolor Skirt

Fabric paint can leave a pretty rough texture which isn’t fun to wear, so I decided to try a watercolor effect in hope that that would help the fabric retain some of its softness. I also thought that this would lead to a pattern that would be realistic for me to be able to replicate over the full skirt.

Watercolor Skirt Supplies:

• fabric paint in 4-6 neighboring colors
• light colored clothing item (can have a small or light stain)
• 4-6 brushes of similar size
• water
• cups
• thick paper or cardboard (for lining the skirt to prevent bleed through)

First, I cut a piece of paper to the silhouette of the skirt, and put it in between the fabric and the liner to prevent bleed through. Then, I selected some paint in neighboring colors. I decided to go with a palette of “cool tones,” with a bit of yellow to tie it together.

For each, I made a mixture of about 1/3 paint with 2/3 water.

As I went, I tested each on a piece of scrap fabric. Some took slightly different ratios to get to a tone that I liked. For example, the navy blue was very strong and was probably 1/4 paint to 3/4 water. The turquoise was very light, and even my half and half mixture remained very watery.

I painted small sections at a time, working pretty quickly so the fabric remained wet to get that “watercolor bleed” look in a few places.

As I went, I fell into a reliable pattern. I started with purple and green, making long streaks of each that mostly didn’t touch (as they’re not next to each other on the color wheel). I then added the navy blue, using it to bleed together some of the purple and green areas and unify them. The turquoise came next, and I applied it pretty liberally. It was so light that it isn’t super visible, but it helped bleed and tame the edges, getting to a more watery watercolor look.  Finally, I filled in the remaining gaps with yellow, which really made it pop.

As I went, I tried to retain consistency in size of the pattern and proportions of colors.

I painted the front, let that dry, and then painted the back.  Once it was fully dry, I rubbed it lightly with the bristly side of a sponge to take off any roughness.

To be honest, I’m only so-so on how it turned out.

On the one hand, it totally reformed the stained skirt into something wearable.  The stains are not visible any longer and I could absolutely wear this in public (and did to capture these pictures).

I’m also pretty happy with the way the pattern looks up close.  I love the colors together, and the bleed along the edges gives it a great softness.

Also, diluting the fabric paint in water made it much less stiff, so while the fabric isn’t as flowy as it once was, it is still totally wearable.

However, from afar, the pattern is a little tight for my taste, and the watercolor-bleed and softness don’t necessarily come through.  I’d like to use this scale of pattern to make a purse or something else small-scale, rather than an entire piece of clothing.

I wish I had used much bigger brushes, and perhaps wet the fabric first so the colors would fan out farther.

But, all in all, I feel like this was a great recovery from a stained skirt, and only wet my appetite for painting fabric.  I’d love to try more methods to get the effect I’m looking for!

(Sharing at Idea Box, Think and Make Thursday, Create It Thursday, and Weekend Retreat Link Party)