Mood DIY: How to Paint on Fabric

If you’ve never painted on fabric before, it can probably seem a little intimidating. You may be asking what type of fabric is best, is there a specific type of paint, are there any extra steps — but let me tell you, it’s so incredibly easy!

When adding your own designs, you’ll want to stay away from basic acrylic paint. Instead, look for Jacquard textile paints! They’ll move and stretch with your fabric, without cracking or drying out. Or, if you’re looking to customize some shoes or leather, Mood sells Angelus paint at their NYC store if you call and ask for it!

To showcase the paint in this DIY, I decided to make a “Thank you, Mood” pillow, so I went with an opaque white and a metallic gold.

Step one is creating your design. This can mean free-handing it right on your fabric, or designing it on paper and transferring it. I free handed the “Thank you” and a little Swatch face onto a black cotton twill with chalk. For the logo, I used some handy tracing paper to create a stencil.

The “super opaque” white paint was true to its name, went on super thick, and only needed one coat. The metallic needed two coats, as expected, but looks flawless once it’s dry!

The main thing that makes fabric painting different from regular painting is the need to iron! Once the paint has dried, iron both sides of your fabric for 30 seconds.

After that, your newly customized fabric is ready to be transformed into something new. Like this adorable throw pillow! All you need to do it add an invisible zipper to the bottom of two squares and sew the last three edges with right sides together.

Lastly, clip the corners of your squares and turn your pillow casing right side out before inserting a pillow form. And just like that you’ll have a unique new pillow for your couch or armchair!