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Fabric Prints: Getting Designs onto Fabric

This post will offer ways you can put design onto fabric to match a character for cosplay or just to have a cool design on your garment. 

The 3 main "categories" or methods are: 

  1. Painting
  2. Applique
  3. Sublimation/Screen Printing

Painting



This is the most accessible and often cost effective way to put a design onto fabric.  The benefits are:
  • Can match character designs exactly
  • Color availability
  • Flexibility 
  • Often inexpensive (although, you can always find a way to spend too much.)
Some of the downsides:
  • Sometimes only specific types of paint will work for your fabric (dark, stretch fabric, sheer, etc)
  • It can be tedious for large amounts of fabric
  • Some paints can crack, fade or even wash out in water
  • Requires a steady hand and coordination
  • Can get messy
I like looking at Dharma Trading's website for research on what paints work best with whatever fabric I'm working with. 
So there are many methods of painting fabric of all kinds. There's also a plethora of paint specifically for fabric or you can also use acrylic mixed with a fabric medium. However, you don't always just paint by hand with a brush. 
There are methods of fabric painting besides what I would call "hand brushing".
  • Spray Paint - pair with stencils to cover lots of ground. 
  • Airbrush - similar to spray paint but requires extra tools and specialized paint
  • Wood Blocking - kind of like rubber stamps. You have a design on a "wood block" and use that to press a design into fabric. 
  • Paint Pens - good for detail work. 

Applique

Embroidery is technically applique.
Adhering fabric to fabric

Iron-on things are applique too!
This category contains many methods for cutting and pasting another material to your fabric. In very simplistic terms. So I consider things like embroidery, rhinestones, and heat transfer vinyl as a form of applique. Kind of think of it as applying patches. 
  • Durable and doesn't fade
  • Works on almost all types of fabrics
  • Some methods are more detailed than others
On the other hand:
  • Only works for some types of designs (usually large logos with few color changes)
  • Embroidery by hand is very time consuming
  • Can get expensive or need specific tools
  • Material to be added needs to work with the base fabric
  • Always adds material which can add bulk or reduce stretch
So adhering a shape onto fabric has many methods like I mentioned. Blinging or adding rhinestones or bedazzling whatever, qualifies. Now embroidery may be a stretch but it does add thread to the fabric and it can reduce stretch and add bulk. 

Sublimation/Dye/Printing

Printed fabric

This in a sense is dying the fabric is a very specific way. The "ink" is absorbed by the fibers and changes their colors instead of just covering up the fibers in paint. 

The benefits of this are: 
  • Exact matching for characters
  • It's how printed fabric is made
  • Fabric is washable
  • Durable and waterproof
Downside is: 
  • Most expensive method
  • May not be able to do from home
  • Requires special tools and dyes
  • High learning curve
  • May not work on dark based fabrics
  • Some methods require a specific type of fiber in the fabric to work. 
The "easiest" option is to get fabric printed for you through an online service. They have the industrial size printers to do this but the cost per yard is very high. It may be the thing you save up and splurge on. 

There are ways of doing this from home. Screen printing is an accessible enough method. 



In the past I've used "Infusible Ink" from Cricut. (There are other brands.) These too offer a way to put color onto fabric, but I have only had success with light colored fabric. 

I have seen paper to transfer sublimation ink onto light or dark fabrics. I haven't delved too deep into it though. 

Then you have things like tie-dye or bleaching. 

This is what limited knowledge I have on getting a design onto fabric. 
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