DIY Potato Stamp on Fabric
A while back I painted grain sack pillow covers and while I still love them, they can’t be washed because I used regular latex paint for the stripes. This time I decided after perusing Pinterest, that I would try my hand at using a potato stamp.
First thing I did was purchase drop cloth material at my local Canadian Tire store. I actually just bought a 4 x 12 foot drop cloth this time.
Like last time, I put the material in the washing machine and when it was finished I hung it up and left it until it was about 95% dry. I read that if you put it in the dryer you would never get the wrinkles out. I ironed the whole piece and cut out what I would need to cover two pillows.
Now time for the potatoes. I took a potato and cut it in half.
Potatoes are wet inside by nature, so I kept paper towel handy to try and dry them somewhat.
First stamp I decided to make was of a tree. I used a marker to outline the tree, but because of the wetness, it is a fairly faint outline, but enough to use as a guide for cutting.
I cut down into the potato about 1/2 inch and then came at it from the side.
I decided to cut away even more of the potatoe so while stamping I would have a better idea of where the tree was going to land on the fabric.
Time for a practise run. I used a small craft brush to apply the paint to the stamp.
On a scrap piece of material, I learned that the stamp part of the potato needed to be really flat.
Jim to the rescue. He used a carpet knife to cut any ridges off the tree.
That worked. I got better coverage with the potato trimmed, I wasn’t looking for a perfect tree outline completely filled in.
I tried a few other stamps just for fun and to help me make a decision on two different ones to use.
I just started free handing the stamp, all willy nilly like while trying to keep my lines pretty straight. Thats when Jim came in from the workshop for a coffee…and out came the tape.
Not necessary, but it did help keep the lines straight and the spaces even. My biggest fear was dropping the potato onto the fabric.
One piece of advice I would give you if you attempt this, and you should, is…once you have the potato stamp cut out, and have done your practice run, start stamping on your fabric right away. I stopped and had lunch, then maybe an hour later got back to start stamping and the potatoes stamps had gone rubbery. I still used them but had I known, I would have used them right away.
Here are my two pieces of material drying. They turned out good I must say.
Here is a close up of the trees…
And the geometric pattern…
Next up was sewing the pillow covers. You may have noticed each pillow cover was one long piece of material. Most people use two squares, one for the front and one for the back, then start sewing them together. Not me… I fold right sides together then sew down the two sides leaving the end open.
The material gets turn right side out paying special attention to making the corners crisp. I stuff the pillow inside and hand sew the 4th side. Easy peasy.
Before…
After…
Their close-up!
In case you wish to go back and see some of my other drop cloth/paint masterpieces, I will link to them here.
Next up, I was thinking if there is enough material left from making these pillow covers, I will make a faux roman shade for the kitchen window. Need to measure first. And of course there will be a painted stripe in case you were wondering.
Later.
