Last updated Wednesday 25 June 2003

The creation of the fabric

Fish Fabric

The first fabric I worked on was the fish fabric. This fabric was a multi-step process that took a lot of time to complete, but I loved the results. I used white muslin fabric and Pebeo Setacolor Soleil paint to create the fabric.

 I created a studio for painting fabric with a sheet of plywood on a couple of saw horses in the driveway. I started the fish fabric by painting areas of red, orange and yellow all over white muslin.

While I waited for the red, orange and yellow colored fabric to dry I was busy stamping and cutting out fish from white cardstock.

After letting the fabric dry for a couple of days, the fabric went back onto the driveway for some more color. Blues, purples and greens were painted over the fish colors in wave patterns.

Once all of the blues, purples and green paint were painted on top of the red, orange and yellow painted fabric I placed the cut out fish randomly around the fabric.

Once the fabric was dry and the fish templates were removed I had a sea of swimming fish. Now to give them a little detail.

I took the fabric indoors and started stamping. The fish got a black outline and I added some gold and green seaweed. The result was some fun fish swimming through the a sea of colors and textures.


Tan Fabric - Sand

Next came the tan fabric. I wanted this fabric to simulate the colors and textures of sand. I was trying to get the effect of the grains of sand and the patterns that they water makes in the sand as the tide comes in and goes out.

 The sand fabric was a much less complicated. I painted a sandy brown color over the entire piece of fabric and then sprinkled it with salt
The result was a textured brown fabric with the look of a sandy beach.

Blue Fabric - Water

Next I worked on the blue fabric. I wanted this fabric to simulate the colors and textures of water. I was trying to get the effect of the ripples and the sun glistening on the surface.

 The Blue fabric was created using the scrunch method. Several colors of Blue and Teal were painted on the fabric and then the fabric was scrunched up a bit and allowed to dry.
The result is a fun water fabric. It is very interesting how 3D this fabric looks even in this picture where it has been ironed flat.

Green Fabric - Foliage

The last fabric I worked on was the green fabric. I wanted this fabric to simulate the colors and textures of the foliage in and around bodies of water.

 The green fabric was created using the scrunch and salt methods. Several colors of of green paint were applied and then lightly scrunched. While it was scrunched salt was sprinkled over the fabric. The fabric was then allowed to dry.