The stencilled cushion project took less than an hour from having the idea to completion
I bought a car full of these pug cushions from Tesco a few years ago and they have sat happily as a family on our sofa but it was time for a change.
The pugs are taking a holiday except one and he gets a new home in the kitchen..after a bit of jazzing up. The cushion had been washed at some time in the past, it is important that the item has been laundered at least once if you intend your stencilling to be washable in the future.
The paints that I used were from Jacquard, Liquitex and Golden. They are three makes of paint that are always in my drawer and I sell Liquitex and Jacquard; all are washable on fabric.
I had employed stencil number 298RoseGarland to decorate a dress that I wore to visit Russia earlier this year so it was on hand and was a perfect fit for this project...although the pug looks a tad dubious about it. Our stencil design is inspired by painted canal boats and similar folk art, we have others on the same theme on our web site.
A clean, dry stencil brush is needed for each colour used. I recommend the use of 3M SprayMount repositioning adhesive when stencilling onto fabric, a light misting of adhesive onto the work surface will hold the fabric in position and another misting on the back of the stencil is advised. Because the cushion cover was ready made the two surfaces of fabric would slip against each other so instead of applying SprayMount (TM) to my work surface I sprayed a piece of heavy paper with the adheshive and inserted it into the cover then smoothed the fabric over it to stop it from moving whilst it was stencilled.
Colours were applied by stencil brush through the pattern of holes on the first layer of the stencil. A small amount of paint is taken up by the stencil brush then rubbed in a circle onto the paper towel, a bit like stirring a drink. This distributes the paint through the brush and dries the paint so that it is damp rather than wet when put through the stencil.
When the first layer is completely coloured put a mark through the registration points cut into the stencil. Rather than mark the fabric I stick green stencil tape onto the material directly below the registration marks, that way the tape gets marked instead of the fabric.
Remove the first stencil and position the second so that it aligns with the marks on the tape from the previous layer. Once the second layer is complete remove the paper and the pieces of tape.
Heat an iron as hot as the fabric will take and press on the reverse of the painted side. Some paints need no heat setting; check with the manufacturer's instruction.
Finished! Re-insert the cushion, plonk it on an armchair and take delight in the result of brightening up a corner with colour and silliness.
Helen Morris