Painting Fabric

Do you have an old dated chair that has good bones?  Are you thinking of putting it out at the next community garage sale or donating it to the local thrift store?  Wait, hold the phone!  You can easily refresh that old word piece by painting it!  YES! You can paint fabric and it couldn't be easier. 

What you will need: 

  • Chair to paint
  • 1 pint of Rethunkjunkbylaura paint color of choice
  • 1 spray bottle with a solution of 20% fabric softener and 80% water
  • 1 paint brush
  • 1 8oz jar of tuff top sealer
  • fine grit sandpaper

Now that you have all your supplies gathered, lets paint.  First spray the chair with the solution you created.  Do not soak the fabric but give it a light spray to make it damp to the touch.  This will allow the fabric to take the paint and the paint to absorb into the fabric.  This is the only time you will need to spray the fabric.  It will also make your chair smell really good! 

Now that the chair has been sprayed, begin to apply the paint with your paint brush.  Put a coat on all the fabric on the chair.  Be aware that if your fabric has any type of raised pattern on it that the pattern will still be noticeable. For ex. If the fabric has "raised" flowers on it the flowers will now become the color you are painting them but you will still see the shape of a flower. 

Once you have the first coat on let it dry throughly.  This may take a few hours.  After it is dry use your light grit sandpaper to go over the fabric and knock off the roughness of the paint.  Do this gently, you do not want to sand off any paint.  Wipe the dust of the chair and apply the next coat of paint.  2 coats are usually enough but it may need 3.  Sand in between each coat and the final coat. Once you are satisfied with the coverage give it a final sanding and seal it with Tuff Top sealer.  Your chair should be soft to the touch and have a leather look to it.  Be sure to put it in a spot where it will get lots of notice and you can tell people that YOU painted it! If you are so inclined you can even stencil a design on your chair, there is no limit as to how you can transform your work! The most important part though is to have fun while you are creating and transforming.  Be sure and let me know how it turns out!