Ikat Fabric Tutorial and Printable Pattern

Last Thursday, in this post, I asked you to help me with my design dilemma.

I wanted to bring coral into my dining room again, this time on the seat cushions. Most of you thought the Malabar Ikat with the coral background was the best choice for the room,
and I agreed.

Today, I am excited to share the end result with you and show you how I did it.

Part A: Create the Stencil

1. Create an Ikat stencil in photoshop.

To do this, I cut and pasted this photo of Malabar Ikat from Ballard Designs into photoshop.




In photoshop, I created a seamless pattern out of this design and sized it 8 x 11. This made it large and easy to work with.

2. Print the pattern .



I created an 8x11 printable for you. Click here.

When you are finished cutting the stencil out, it will not look exactly like this pattern,
this is just a guideline.

3. Trace the pattern onto stencil sheet with thin permanent marker.

Source

I bought my sheets from Hobby Lobby, they were a little larger than 8 x 11.

If I had to do it over again, I would buy the largest sheet I could find and trace the stencil onto it filling the sheet. This would make the stenciling process alot easier.

This stage is where your stencil becomes your own. I had to alter the Malabar pattern to make it work as a stencil. I had to make sure all of the individual pieces of the pattern were connected so the stencil would be successful.

4. Cut out stencil.

This tool is a lifesaver for cutting out stencils, I think I paid $7.00 at Hobby Lobby, definitely worth it!

I wanted to make the background of my fabric coral. To do this I cut out the gray areas of the stencil. If you wanted to make the ikat coral cut out the white of the stencil.

Part B: Set-up your Fabric and Paint

1. Select Fabric.

I used a cream linen for my fabric. I was very pleased with how the stencil and Simply Screen paint worked on the linen.

2. Iron fabric, lay it flat on a piece of posterboard (something you do not mind getting paint on) and tightly tape the fabric to the board.

3. Paint

I decided to try Simply Screen, screen printing paint, after seeing these incredible DIY pillows by Cyndy on The Exchange.

She had me sold when she said "when the screen print paint dries, it is just like fabric and doesn't look "painted" on." I hate crunchy paint on fabric!

I mixed a custom color using Simply Screen Firetruck, Orange Peel and a little white to cut saturation and make the color less intense.

Cyndy was right, this paint is AMAZING! When you mix it, it becomes an inky goo more like ink than paint. It does not bleed, and there is no variation of color when you put it on the fabric. Best of all it is not crunchy when it dries.

Before I started stenciling, I rubbed stencil adhesive onto the stencil, especially around the edges to keep it tight to the fabric.

Wow, this is a looong tutorial. Bear with me the fun is just beginning, it is time to stencil your fabric!

Part C: Stencil

1. Lay your stencil straight onto your fabric.

I used a T-square throughout the process to keep the stencil straight.

2-5.

2. Paint, use a lot of paint, make sure the fabric is wet.

3. Move stencil vertically, lining your stencil up with the portion you just painted. Make sure to keep the stencil straight.

4. Paint

5. Move the stencil horizontally to the first panel you painted. Overlap the first area you painted, to make the transition seamless.

I had to use the stencil to paint two rows vertically and four columns horizontally to fill approximately 3/4 a yard.

This is why I recommend using a larger stencil sheet, so I would not have had to overlap the stencil as often.

Me stenciling away, doesn't this look like fun!?

Finished with the first piece, three to go

Unfortunately, I ran out of paint after the third piece, so currently I have one more to paint....but I'll show the results anyway...But before I do...

I couldn't put my beautiful NEW ikat fabric on my old, beat up chairs...so I gave them a fresh coat of Dover White Gloss spray paint.

READY?!

...and Here is the new dining room

I still have a few things in here to finish, but I am happy so far.
I hope the tutorial helps you get your Ikat on!

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