Spotlight Terri Shinn, Textile Artist
Asking "what if" inspires Terri Shinn to experiment with texture and color to achieve her vision of the world, often from a macro perspective. She gets close to her subjects...
Surface Design
Surface design adds layers of interest to your art with painting on fabric, fabric manipulation, textile dyes and more. Acrylic paint is fabric-friendly, so easy to use and widely available. If you prefer, you can use fabric dyes, pens and markers in your designs with resists, stencils and stamps. For more options, try fabric manipulation techniques – they create sculptural effects, bringing depth and dimension to your art.
Browse through our projects and inspiration that feature surface design.
Surface Design Inspiration
Spotlight: Jane Dunnewold, Artist, Author, Educator
Creating is vital to the person who is Jane Dunnewold. When not experimenting with surface design techniques and materials and making textile art, she teaches others to find their creative...
Spotlight: Francesca Penchant, Multidisciplinary Artist
A multidisciplinary artist, Francesca Penchant stretches the boundaries of visual art by embracing and celebrating differences. Whether working in surface design, wearable art, photography or film, she finds joy in...
Eco Printing and Dyeing on Textiles
More Eco Printing and Dyeing Inspiration
Spotlight: Lotta Helleberg, Fiber Artist
Combining the essence of the flora that surrounds her Virginia home with her Scandinavian esthetic, Lotta Helleberg uses botanical contact printing (AKA eco-printing) as a foundation for her fiber art....
Spotlight: Chris McLaughlin, Fiber Artist
As a suburban child, Chris McLaughlin knew she was always a farmer at heart. Now she lives her dream raising animals for fiber and flowers for bouquets and botanical dyes. As...
Spotlight: Tatiana Sarasa, Visual Artist
Tatiana Sarasa's art connects her with the earth. That connection gives her so much satisfaction that she promotes the connection through her own work and by providing a collaborative workspace...
More Surface Design
How to Sew Pintucks
Make a garment with texture using a pintuck foot to add surface design. Stitch the pintucks onto a larger piece of fabric, then cut the pattern pieces.
Spotlight: Patti Barker, Wearable Artist
Patti Barker creates wearable works of art that communicate strong messages with fiber. She embellishes her creations with beads and other fibers, using bases of nuno felting,. How did you…
Spotlight: Sophie MacNeill, Fiber Artist
Inspired by nature and the world around her, Sophie MacNeill creates amazingly detailed fiber art pieces with hand dyed fabrics. Stitching forces Sophie to slow down and look closely. Her…
Spotlight: Debbie Maddy, Indigo and Shibori Artist
Debbie Maddy discovered her passion for quilting and later discovered her love for indigo dying. She has now designed her 10th line of fabrics based on her indigo dyed fabrics…
Spotlight: Suzanne Connors, Textile Artist
Exploring the versatility of Indigo dyeing, textile artist Suzanne Connors stitches, binds and clamps fabric, then dips it in natural Indigo to achieve an endless variety of textiles full of…
How to Dye Fabric with Sharpies
There are many ways to add color to fabric, and one of the easiest methods - Sharpie dyeing - uses everyday supplies. And you don't need a large space or…
Spotlight: Kathryn Davey, Natural Dyer
Ready to embrace the serendipity that happens when you extract color from nature and use it to transform cloth, natural dyer Kathryn Davey knows that even when she has a…
Spotlight: Arielle Toelke, Artist and Designer
Growing up in a creative household with artist parents and a maker for a sister, there was little doubt that artist and designer Arielle Toelke would follow a creative path.…