Sunprinting, in a nutshell

After reading my sun printing post, Colleen left a comment asking how this was done. Sorry if I don't go into a lot of detail sometimes; I always think that nobody is going to read a really long detailed post! Anyway, I'm no expert at this, I just like to have fun with this technique. It brings out the kid in me. In fact, when I tried this last Summer with my son who was 5 at the time, I told him we were going to do magic in the backyard :o) ANYway, here's the basic no-frills material you need: prewashed Cotton Fabric or even a white t-shirt (I am assuming that light colors work best, but it would be interesting to try this with something darker or even a print), Pebeo Setacolor Soleil or Setacolor Transparent fabric paint, paint brushes, and a plastic bag or something to protect your work surface.
I usually dampen the fabric first, and then I just paint on it (whatever strikes my fancy). Here I tried to blend green turquoise and indigo. Then I put my hand stencil on top, and quickly went to find a sunny spot to put this in for at least an hour. I left it a little longer because the Winter sun was pretty weak today. I used a stencil, but you can use lots of things like old keys, leaves, and other found objects, or make your own stencils. Make sure whatever you use lies flat though (the print comes out better). Leave your fabric outside on top of a piece of cardboard covered with plastic. After a couple of hours or less, you can gently lift the stencil or object and see if all's well. And that's all there is to it. Later you iron your fabric with hot iron for 5 minutes to set the colors. It says on the paint bottle that you can also use it for tie dye... This could be interesting too, as whatever is hidden from sunlight doesn't absorb the dye and stays a much lighter shade of whatever Setacolor color you choose.

Comments

[Colleen]

Thank you! I (for one) enjoyed reading about that process. I suppose that the same steps taken at different times of the year would have slightly different results.