Fabric Paint on Folding Fan
July 12, 2019 6:41 AM Subscribe
I bought a hand fan. I want to customize it with fabric paint or markers. I don't know what product to use. Help?
I bought this fan in the color purple. I want to write the word Queen on it in large flowing letters, preferably silver and glittery, but most importantly readable when the fan is open.
I have no experience doing this and I don't know what product to use, so please help? The fabric is synthetic- probably nylon? It is like umbrella fabric but has a sheen to it, and maybe it's a little thicker and more rustle-y.
I want to avoid having ink/paint bleed in the fabric. I'd prefer not to see it bleed through the other side of the fabric. I would like the color to be opaque so to be very readable. However, the fan must continue to open & close smoothly (with a nice loud THWACK). And I don't want paint to crack and flake all over the place.
I'm willing to get creative here! If you have an idea for making this happen (the word Queen large & legible) with some other kind of medium besides paint/ink, let me know! Appliques would be too thick to let the fan fold & unfold. I thought of doing a cut-out of the letters too.
I bought this fan in the color purple. I want to write the word Queen on it in large flowing letters, preferably silver and glittery, but most importantly readable when the fan is open.
I have no experience doing this and I don't know what product to use, so please help? The fabric is synthetic- probably nylon? It is like umbrella fabric but has a sheen to it, and maybe it's a little thicker and more rustle-y.
I want to avoid having ink/paint bleed in the fabric. I'd prefer not to see it bleed through the other side of the fabric. I would like the color to be opaque so to be very readable. However, the fan must continue to open & close smoothly (with a nice loud THWACK). And I don't want paint to crack and flake all over the place.
I'm willing to get creative here! If you have an idea for making this happen (the word Queen large & legible) with some other kind of medium besides paint/ink, let me know! Appliques would be too thick to let the fan fold & unfold. I thought of doing a cut-out of the letters too.
Best answer: If it's nylon and maintaining easy open-close is important, I don't think acrylic paint would work, because it'll add thickness that'll make folding harder. It's also prone to cracking.
However, metallic Sharpie pens should work pretty well for these, but if you want even more pop or are worried about bleed-through, maybe leafing pens? I use them in projects and don't have problems with bleed-through on anything but the thinnest paper. And you can definitely use them on fabric and fake flowers, so they should handle your fan well.
For the glitter, I'd wait for the pen/marker to fully fully fully dry and then some some, and maybe use a brush to paint some Modge Podge on very thinly, and then while the Modge Podge is still wet, sprinkle some extra-fine glitter on, and wait for it to dry. To preserve the fan being able to fold up well, I probably would go pretty light on the glitter.
If you have access to one, an art store for artists or art students would probably have great advice for you. My local Dick Blick's has staff that would be DELIGHTED to help with a project like this.
posted by joyceanmachine at 7:34 AM on July 12, 2019
However, metallic Sharpie pens should work pretty well for these, but if you want even more pop or are worried about bleed-through, maybe leafing pens? I use them in projects and don't have problems with bleed-through on anything but the thinnest paper. And you can definitely use them on fabric and fake flowers, so they should handle your fan well.
For the glitter, I'd wait for the pen/marker to fully fully fully dry and then some some, and maybe use a brush to paint some Modge Podge on very thinly, and then while the Modge Podge is still wet, sprinkle some extra-fine glitter on, and wait for it to dry. To preserve the fan being able to fold up well, I probably would go pretty light on the glitter.
If you have access to one, an art store for artists or art students would probably have great advice for you. My local Dick Blick's has staff that would be DELIGHTED to help with a project like this.
posted by joyceanmachine at 7:34 AM on July 12, 2019
If it is nylon--the vendor should be able to tell you--and it's the same as umbrella fabric, I'd buy a secondhand umbrella at a thrift shop and experiment on that.
Whatever you use needs to have enough pigment to be opaque on the purple background.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 8:17 AM on July 12, 2019
Whatever you use needs to have enough pigment to be opaque on the purple background.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 8:17 AM on July 12, 2019
Response by poster: Update: I bought and tested a few products on an old umbrella that we had in the house. I tried fabric markers, silver leaf markers, and "soft" fabric paint.
By far, the best opacity was from the silver leaf pen/marker. It really looked great, with no bleed-through, and the fabric folded well. The soft fabric paint was pretty thick and didn't have great opacity. The fabric markers were better, but not as opaque as the silver leaf pen.
I used it on the fan as I described above. The opacity looks great and it is very readable and shiny. The fan works exactly as it did before. I may add more glitter to it but right now I'm really thrilled with it.
Thanks everybody!
posted by aabbbiee at 8:29 AM on July 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
By far, the best opacity was from the silver leaf pen/marker. It really looked great, with no bleed-through, and the fabric folded well. The soft fabric paint was pretty thick and didn't have great opacity. The fabric markers were better, but not as opaque as the silver leaf pen.
I used it on the fan as I described above. The opacity looks great and it is very readable and shiny. The fan works exactly as it did before. I may add more glitter to it but right now I'm really thrilled with it.
Thanks everybody!
posted by aabbbiee at 8:29 AM on July 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by xingcat at 6:59 AM on July 12, 2019