Handpainted Congress Bag

Let's get started!

The first thing you want to do is make sure the fabric you're working with is nice and clean. Washing with Synthrapol or Dharma Textile Detergent does a good job of removing dirt, oils or sizing from your fabric, which might impede how your paints work.

Next, while your bag is drying, you'll want to do some research. Images can be found just about anywhere: an internet search, books and magazines and even home photos are great places to get inspired. Take a look at some animals or items and use this to draw inspiration for your piece. In this case we chose octopuses - because who couldn't use some extra hands to hold your things!

Prepare your work surface: cover areas with plastic, get some water for rinsing your brushes and get your paints all set up using a palette (or whatever you like to do). Since we're working on a colored background, we are using the Neopaque and Lumiere paints. These paints are opaque, which means that they have enough pigment in them to stand out from the bag and make our image really show up well. If you're working with a lighter surface (or you want the color of your bag to play a part in your painting colors) then you can use transparent paints, which have less pigment in them and will show the background.

Now, with your image in mind, let's sketch out some images using the Nonce Marking Pencil or chalk. The nice thing about using one of these is that if you draw something that doesn't work, a little water will erase the line for you. If you're working with a lighter colored surface you can also use pencil and eraser or our water removable markers too.

Pro-Tip: You can also use carbon paper, which comes in graphite for light fabrics or white for dark fabrics, or tracing paper, tracing your design with a Transfer Pencil over to your bag if sketching in your design isn't your cup of tea.

Using a brush and the now drawn or transferred image as a guide, let's start painting. If you don't want to iron to heat set your paints when you have finished, you can also opt to use Jacquard Air-Fix - which will allow your paints to cure and become permanent via air-drying (no ironing needed). Now is the time to add a drop or two into your paint if you're wanting to go this route.

There are a lot of painting techniques out there, so give it a try and see what works best for you. Lumiere and Neopaque paints can also be mixed and layered onto your painting to give you better definition, highlights and even shadows and color gradients. Do keep in mind, the more layers you place on your piece, the more paint will be there, and thus the more stiff that part of your bag will feel, so use your own discretion!

Pro-Tip: Always layer paint while wet. If you paint onto paint that is already dried, it is much more likely to peel in the wash - ask how I know :-(

Pro-Tip: Is your canvas or fabric too textured and your lines are coming out looking rough? Use a little bit of water to thin down your paint so that it will absorb into the fabric easier, making a nice, sharp line. Then go over the damp painted line with the unwatered paint color to darken the crisp line you have just made!

After you're done painting, let your piece dry for 24 hours. Make sure that it's nice and dry everywhere.

If you did not use Air-Fix when painting, you'll want to heat-set your piece using a DRY iron on the appropriate heat setting for your fabric. Keeping the iron in motion, ironing about 1-2 minutes over all painted parts of your art to make sure that the paint is really getting a nice dose of heat. You can even iron the backside of your piece to be certain that all parts of your paint are heat-set!

Pro-Tip: You can use a press cloth or paper in between your image and the iron if you would like to keep your ironing plate clean.

Later (we recommend waiting at least a couple of days, 5 days if you have used Airfix), a gentle rinse with Synthrapol (or Dharma Textile Detergent) in cool running water helps to clean up any chalk or transferred lines and marks you made while painting. Once dry, you are ready to hit the town with your new best friend!

Happy Painting!