DIY Project: Fabric Painting and Hand-Lettering on a Tea Towel

Earlier this month, a customer asked if I could hand-paint her favorite quote onto one of my hand-dyed kitchen towels.  What a brilliant idea!

She wanted this design (the quote along with the cluster of flowers) hand painted on this pink and teal hand dyed towel that she purchased from my Etsy shop.  

Here are the steps that I followed:

1. Make a photocopy of the design and enlarged by 180%
2. On the reverse side of the towel (lower half), place the pattern and hold in place with masking tape.
3. Place the towel and pattern on top of a light box and trace the design using a water soluble marker.
4. Trace the quote with a black fabric marker - I like to use Stained by Sharpie
5. Use Jacquard textile paints for the flowers and leaves. Start by mixing your color palette for the flowers, followed by green shades for the leaves.
6. Once the painted design is completely dry, iron on the reverse side of the towel to heat set the color.

As I worked on this project, I thought this would be a great tutorial for my first episode of Create Something Today on my YouTube Channel.  Watch the episode below...

Supplies used in this tutorial:

• Hand-Dyed Tea Towel by DivineNYCo on Etsy
• Clover Water Soluble Marker with eraser in Blue from Amazon
• Darice 2503-51 Embossing Essentials Lightbox from Amazon
• Jacquard Textile Paints from DickBlick.com
• Sharpie Stained Permanent Fabric Marker from Amazon

For hand-lettered inspirational quotes (to use as a template), Pinterest is a great source.  Here are a few suggestions:

• Hand-Lettering Quotes on Pinterest
• Hand Lettered Quotes on Pinterest