LEVEL: Primary to Artist.
There are two popular ways to paint fabrics. One is ready-made fabric printing ink, and the other is to use a medium with acrylic paint.  

Textile fabric painting ink.
This is a paint or ink that can be heat-set to a fabric to make it permanent, completely washable and dry cleanable. FAS Fastex is made exclusively for fabric material and offers real, lasting quality once heat-set correctly. See our video on heat setting. Other brands may differ.

Paints with a Textile Medium added.
You can mix a textile medium with acrylic paint to make it suitable for fabric. This can work reasonably well, but it is still a paint that has been redirected with medium to be applied to fabric. This method often does not layer well, so when it dries, you can feel rigid surface that will only get worse with more layers you paint. Often is not as durable as real fabric paints.

The Good from the Bad.
Once applied, a good fabric painting ink should not only look good with solid colours, but you should not be able to feel it on the fabric no matter how many layers you have printed. FAS Fastex Painting Ink layers well, and your artwork remains extremely durable when heat set correctly.

Application:
There are three main ways to use textile fabric ink. We are just looking at one today.
1. By brush
2. Simple stencil.
3. Screen print to a high definition.   
The golden rule is to paint thinly. Two thin coats are better than one thick coat. Heat-set by ironing the fabric once it is completely dry
 
Mesh Screen Printing 
Screen Printing with Textile Ink
Screen Printing gives strong, sharp and clean colours. It allows the artist to have complete control of the finished artwork.

1. Place the fabric under the screen. Making sure it is flat with no wrinkles.
2. Put a small amount of Fastex Textile Ink above the design inside the screen.
3. Use a squeegee to evenly drag the ink evenly across the design inside the screen.
4. Gently lift the screen off your fabric and allow the to dry.
Finished design in high definition. NB: note the TM 
5. Once dry, iron the fabric at a good hot setting. See our video below.

TIPS:  
- Less is more. Try not to paint too thick.
- You may need to clean between colours but more often than you can do a run of fabric prints this way.
- Make sure your artwork is completely dry before you iron.  

LEVEL: Primary School.

Paper Batik Design 
With Wax Crayons and School Dyes:
Batik is a centuries-old art form that involves painting melted wax on fabric and then dipping the fabric in dye. But here is a simple project for children to make a colourful batik effect with paper wax crayons.

You will need the following:
: FAS Painting Dye or FAS Fun Dye.
: Wax crayons in bold colours.
: Sheets of paper.
: Apron and sheets of newspapers – plus paper towels – for clean-up.

Let's get started:
Prepare a flat surface work area with a newspaper and put on the aprons. 

Use the wax crayons to make a picture, a motif, or a design. Work heavily, laying down plenty of colourful wax crayons.
Then crumble the picture, flatten it and crumple it again. This can be done several times to obtain a crumpled batik effect.

Smooth out the picture and make it flat.
Now paint lightly with one FAS dye colour into the crayon's cracks. Next, turn the picture over onto the newsprint paper and smooth the picture so the newspaper absorbs the excess dye.

Allow drying time:
TIPS:  
- One colour of dye works best
- Plastic crayons do not work.
- Try not to use too much dye; just a light brushing over.

Share and enjoy

​#waxcrayonbatik  #faspaints