Craft Life: Arrowed Stripes Motif – A Tutorial

I first saw the Lauren Moffatt coat below at A Beautiful Mess and I immediately fell in love.  Not only is the color fantastic but the motif at the bottom is so beautiful and unique!  I quickly pinned it with plans to use that motif in a project.

My cute sister wearing her new cardigan!

We liked it better styled with a belt 🙂

MATERIALS:

• Fabric Paint – appropriate to the fabric you are using.
• Clear Ruler
• Fabric Chalk
• Masking Tape
• Paint Brush
• Sponge Brush
• Scrap Cardboard

1. Mark out your stripe guidelines.  I started mine about a 1/2 in. from the edge of the fabric. (The bottom band for this cardigan has not yet been attached)  In hindsight I would have started at least 1 in. from the edge because when I went back to sew the band some of the arrow corners got caught up in the seam line.
2. A shot of the finished markings.  You do not have to make connected lines, you will connect the lines with the tape.  I used 1/2″ wide stripes with a 1 1/2″ gap between.  Next time i think I will do 1/4″ stripes for a cleaner look.  Make sure you are using a clear ruler so that all of your lines are parallel.
3. Connect the lines with masking tape.  Place tape to the outside of your markings into the spaces that will not be painted.  Your markings will get painted over.  Make sure to use multiple pieces of tape so your spaces are fully covered.
4. Cover your bases.  If the motif will be going over a pocket like mine, make sure you stick some scrap cardboard in the pockets so they aren’t painted shut.
5. Paint.  I found a brush to be the most useful for painting the stripes.  Make sure you put enough coats to get the coverage that you like.
6. Finished painting.  Your piece should look like this.  No un-even coverage or gaps.
7. Let dry, remove tape.  Read the instructions on your fabric paint bottle for dry time.  Remove tape carefully.
8. Create triangle stencil.  On a scrap piece of cardboard (I used a mailing envelope with a glossy side to keep the paint from over-saturating the stencil) draw out your triangle.  Use a piece that is big enough so no residual paint goes off the side of the stencil and onto your fabric.  Make sure the width of the triangle is wider than your stripe (mine was 1″).  Be sure to draw using a ruler so your angles and lines are even.  Carefully cut out using an exact-o knife or razor.  I also added little markings in the center of the bottom line of my triangle that match the width of my stripes so I knew where to line them up.
9. Line up stencil on stripes. The first one is easy, just chose anywhere, any stripe.  Make sure the stencil is centered on the stripe.
10. Paint using a sponge brush.  I found the sponging technique to be best for the arrows.  Make sure your coverage matches that of the stripes as best as possible.
11. Painted arrows close up.  The pattern is up to you, random or calculated.  Mine was completely random, alternating direction and in groupings of 3, 2, and 1.  Don’t be afraid of empty line space and over-do it!
12.   Let dry and Iron.  When you are satisfied, set aside and let dry.  Use this dry time to give yourself multiple pats on the back – you are a fabric painting wizard!  Once dry, iron to set.  Spend a good amount of time (about 2 min or as recommended on bottle) on both sides.
13. Finish & Wear.  Brace yourself for lots of ooh’s and aah’s!