New member with a fabric paint issue!
 

Hi everyone,

I've finally joined up after reading many helpful posts from the sidelines! A lot of questions that I've had have been answered by this forum and for that I would like to say a big thank you!

I've got a bit of an issue at the moment with a quilt that I have just finished. The quilt is a "Tardis" quilt that I've made (secretly) for a friend of mine who is a big fan of Dr Who. The issue I'm having with it is the white fabric paint that I used to make the "Police Box" sign. I made the sign using a freezer paper template and Dylon white fabric paint. The paint is supposedly washable after setting it with an iron. I did two coats of fabric paint, setting it with the iron in between each coat, and then washed it to check that it had worked. It faded slightly after the wash so I decided to do another coat of paint. I set it with the iron as before, but didn't rewash it as I thought it would be fine.

I finished the quilting and binding yesterday and popped it in the wash today...I pulled it out of the machine and saw that the paint had peeled off in several areas. I think my current plan would be to repaint the areas that have peeled off and set it with the iron again, and then wash it again to see if it has worked. I guess I'm basically asking if anyone has any other ideas or experience with the dylon fabric paint.

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I don't have much experience with fabric paint. My painted pieces are currently unfinished. I think you are probably on the right track with repainting/resetting/rewashing and seeing how it turns out. On the other hand, the slightly weathered look is probably in line with the Tardis - as I'm sure it gets beat up with all its time travel.

Cheers, K

Thanks guys! I'm definitely going to try again with the fabric paint to see if I can get it right, because it looked so crisp and lovely before it was washed. If that fails then I think I will try going the applique route!

When I was painting sweatshirts in the 90s, I had to add fabric medium to the paint to keep it from doing what this quilt has done. It's a liquid sold with the paints. I assume your fabric was prewashed to remove the sizing otherwise the paint sticks to the sizing and washes out when the sizing washes out. I hope it you are able to work this out.

As a big Dr. Who fan, I want to see the quilt!! Your friend is going to be delighted, no matter how you get this Police Box sign conquered. I have never fabric painted or appliqued, so I can be no help at all.

Dina

Yes, I prewashed the fabric, normally I'm super lazy and can't be bothered but I wanted this one to be perfect so I tried to do everything properly. I'm wondering now if perhaps the last layer of paint was too thick? When I did the first two coats it had the freezer paper template on it and I used a spongey brush, but when I did the touch up after I washed it, I just used a paint brush because I had to keep inside the lines!

Here is the quilt when it was looking lovely!
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And another with it flat, just after I had sandwiched it!
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That is an amazingly beautiful Tardis quilt. Lucky friend !!!
I use mat craft paint, heat set, on fabric all the time and have never had this problem. Did you wash your fabric first? Sometimes the chemicals they put on the fabric won't let the paint penetrate / adhere properly. I think if you repaint now that you have washed it, the paint will stick just fine. But... i don't know about fabric paint...only regular craft paint.

Welcome to the board, and very nice quilt! Hope you find a happy solution~

Many of the fabric paints require time after heat setting to cure. Anywhere from 48 hours to about 7 days before you wash.

Lucky friend! Applique may be the way to go if it's going to be used on a bed.

I made the sign almost a month ago I think, so it should have had time to cure I reckon. I'm now wondering if the problem could have been when I washed it after the first two coats I used a 2 in 1 washing capsule so it would have had fabric softener in it. Anyone think that could affect it? If so, anything I do to it now won't work because I've just used the same capsules to wash the whole quilt...Eep! Maybe I need to invest in some washing powder without softener already added?

Nothing helpful from me unfortunately, I just wanted to say what a lovely quilt that is! I'm a big Dr. Who fan too and this is a great quilt...I'm really jealous of your friend!

The host of Quilting Arts, a show on PBS (nickname is Pokey) might have the information on the use of paints in a quilt that you are seeking. Check out her website: quiltingarts.com. Good Luck !!

I do not use that brand of paint but I always use medium to keep the paint from being to thick and peeling.

Medium does more than thin the paint. It improves the paint adhering to the fabric.

Welcome to the board. Could you use plain white Kona fabric and machine appliqué over what you have already tried! Trace over the letters with wonder under a fusible fabric product. It on it onto the back of the Kona and use invisible thread to zig zag it down. Be sure to think in reverse when tracing letters!

So I repainted it yesterday and heat set it last night, I spent a good 15-20 minutes trying to heat set it so that I could be sure I'd got all of it! It's in the washing machine now, I'm really nervous! I went for the handwash mode this time thinking it would be gentler and the fabric paint would be able to cope a bit better! Keeping my fingers crossed!

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Hurrah! It worked!

I am thinking that probably, the first time, you actually had too many layers of paint. Paint needs to soak into the cloth fibers and by putting so many layers, you were bonding it to another layer of paint which had no fibers to hold the paint. JMHO

I love your quilt.

used to be that when you used paints on fabric, that you sprayed with white vinegar before ironing, that seemed to set the paint permanently

My husband and I used to have a business of fabric painting on ties and tee shirts. We used Delta Fabric Dyes, and after we ironed them (used a paper towel between iron and paint, we had no problem. My husband has a shirt I painted him in 1981 that the paint is still perfect on it even though it has been in the washing machine and dryer probably 100 times. I don't think they even make Delta Fabric Dyes any more, all I've seen recently are Delta Ceramcoat Acrylics, but I haven't really looked for them.

This is probably the problem. Paint tends to sit on top of the fibers and when washing and drying you run the risk of it rubbing off somewhat. I now use the white Tsukineko ink instead of paint.

I also think you are washing it to soon after painting. The paint is set but not cured all the way through.