Fabric Painting Tutorial & Comparison (alt title Unintentionally making small Japanese flags)





For each test I’m using a square of bottom weight cotton with an ironed down freezer paper stencil

Airbrush - Just two quick spurts is enough to cover everything, you can see how wide the spray is and why its important to cover everything you don’t want to paint with the freezer paper

Pros





No touching the fabric, so its great for stencils with a lot of tiny detail or something you don’t want brush strokes on.







Very fast, and the least amount of paint is used (end result is less stiff)





Little labor required





Cons



Many coats might be needed depending on the colors used





Expensive set up costs (~250 for a compressor/brush combo pack)





Depending on the airbrush’s nozzle size it can be very prone to clogging until you get used to cutting the paint with the right amount of thinner.



Paint Brush - Start outside the stencil and drag the paint in toward the middle, this will prevent paint from getting under the stencil

Pros



Cheapest and most intuitive





Can do tiny details if a smaller brush is used, also works well for free-hand





Cons



Can leave a heavy paint layer if you aren’t careful





Have to be careful around the edges to not push paint under the stencil





Can be labor intensive



Sponge - Wet and wring out the sponge before starting, then starting outside the stencil, drag paint toward the middle

Pros



Also cheap & intuitive





Lighter coats than brushing





Does not leave stroke marks





Cons



Not good for small details





Also a danger of pushing paint under the stencil edges

Fabric painting is a great way to put designs on a costume, especially when an applique is not possible or wouldn’t get the right look. This works best on cotton or blended cotton fabrics and in this tutorial I’m using airbrush acrylic paint.

All three methods are very work-able depending on the time you have available. Personally I prefer the airbrush for any heavy lifting, followed by using a paint brush to clean up any over spray or mistakes.

An airbrush is what I used on my koumajou densetsu sash, and while its definitely possibly to paint it all by hand, the amount of time it would have taken would have been far too long. And once you pay that initial up front cost you can use it for many costumes or projects afterward.

