I blogged about this tutorial for screen printing without a screen over at The Creativity Exchange before and lovely BM and i needed some new cushion covers so i had a go at making them this weekend
I just used some basic cream drill cotton i bought from ebay. Id recommend a good thick fabric for cushions, like a drill, as it needs to be quite durable. I measured around my cushion, and cut my fabric to the same width and 2.5 times the length, with an additional 5-10cm seam allowance.
Then i laid out the pattern i wanted in tape in the centre of my fabric, trying to make it as symmetrical as possible. This was the most difficult part, i love the geometric shapes and they only work if theyre exact so there was a lot of measuring and calculating involved, but i quite enjoyed it really. I used frog tape, just got it from B&Q, as i think it's much better for stopping paint bleeding under the tape.
I bought some screen print paint from my local art shop. Its important the you use paint that doesnt bleed or you wont get the crisp straight line that looks so good so I tested my paint on a bit of scrap fabric first to make doubly sure.
Then i just painted in the areas i wanted, i did 2 coats to make sure i got even coverage, letting it dry fully in between coats.
Then the fun bit is pulling off the tape and seeing what youve created! I loved how mine turned out and the colour is nice and opaque which is what i wanted.
I ironed the cushion covers to set the paint, but check your paint to see what you need to do to set it. Then i made then up into cushions following the instructions on The Creativity Exchange's tutorial.
There's already in use on our sofa and I'm loving them. I'm not sure how washable they are so i just need to try and keep Marley cat and his giant muddy paws away from them!
I just used some basic cream drill cotton i bought from ebay. Id recommend a good thick fabric for cushions, like a drill, as it needs to be quite durable. I measured around my cushion, and cut my fabric to the same width and 2.5 times the length, with an additional 5-10cm seam allowance.
Then i laid out the pattern i wanted in tape in the centre of my fabric, trying to make it as symmetrical as possible. This was the most difficult part, i love the geometric shapes and they only work if theyre exact so there was a lot of measuring and calculating involved, but i quite enjoyed it really. I used frog tape, just got it from B&Q, as i think it's much better for stopping paint bleeding under the tape.
I bought some screen print paint from my local art shop. Its important the you use paint that doesnt bleed or you wont get the crisp straight line that looks so good so I tested my paint on a bit of scrap fabric first to make doubly sure.
Then i just painted in the areas i wanted, i did 2 coats to make sure i got even coverage, letting it dry fully in between coats.
Then the fun bit is pulling off the tape and seeing what youve created! I loved how mine turned out and the colour is nice and opaque which is what i wanted.
I ironed the cushion covers to set the paint, but check your paint to see what you need to do to set it. Then i made then up into cushions following the instructions on The Creativity Exchange's tutorial.
There's already in use on our sofa and I'm loving them. I'm not sure how washable they are so i just need to try and keep Marley cat and his giant muddy paws away from them!
