How can I create a "watermark" on fabric?

By UmAnOnion

Greetings all.

I am movung into a new studio apartment in the not to distant future & will be using a curtain as a room divider, to seperate the living room area from the bed area when i have overnight guests.

I would like to add a bit of tone on tone variety to the fabric drape & was wondering if there was any way to put a 'watermark' into the fabric, to change/increase its transparency in a pattern of my choosing. The fabric is going to be white handkerchief linen (i like the light weight & clean look of it) Any suggestions welcomed & appreciated!

Thanks in advance

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curtain linen hanging

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February 07, 2008

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About: Greetings ,just your friendly neighborhood smart a**, who is equally adept with a sewing machine...

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UmAnOnion

March 11, 2008

sometimes answers to your own questions pop up in unexpected places.....

Found this on APARTMENT THERAPY which is exactly what i want to do....

Here is the product itself ; FABRIC ETCH that you apply to the fabric in whatever pattern you like, iron & then wash out & it will 'etch' into the fabric , leaving the 'watermark' effect that i am after...

Once i have given it a shot I will post a few pics (if i am successful that is...)

UmAnOnion

February 08, 2008

Thanks for the suggestions Chris,

I like the watered down acrylic idea - will buy a yard of the fabric and give it a try... Dunno if i am uo to the screen printing....

the curtain is going to be approximately 12' x 10' with large bamboo imagery - either that or several large fleur-de-lis... still in the decision making process...

Chrisjob

February 07, 2008

Do you want to do one big image or a repeating pattern?

If you want one large image, watered down white acrylic paint would change the transparency. You could also use ink made for fabric (like for silk screening), which might do better as far as texture. Hanging your fabric and using an overhead projector will help get the design just right.

You can certainly add a repeating pattern, as well, but you'll need to use a stencil (with lots of care) or embrace printmaking. Gocco would do well for this project, but they're getting harder and harder to find. Or, you could take the plunge into screen printing...here's a tutorial I wrote to get into it on the cheap. One warning: once you learn, you can't stop.