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
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…
How to Dye Fabric with Tea: Easy Natural Dyeing
Learn how to dye fabric with tea to make a lovely patina for an aged look to a basic fabric. Sometimes this is referred to as tea staining fabric. Tea…
Spotlight: Christina Fairley Erickson, Fiber Artist
Finding inspiration close to home and in far corners of the world, Christina Fairley Erickson creates art quilts and embroideries that expand her journeys and share them with us. With…
Super Makoplasti-Girl Doll
Last summer I had a total hip replacement due to a too-close encounter with our large (92 pound!) Lab mix. He meant well - I think he was genuinely trying…
Spotlight: Kylee Barnard, Silk Diaries
Kylee Barnard has taken a stress relieving hobby and elevated it into a rewarding business. Kylee does amazing silk dying for her business Silk Diaries when she winds down from…
How to Stencil on Fabric with Paint: Tips and Ideas
Learn how to stencil on fabric with paint to update your clothes and home decor with just a little bit of paint. You can use acrylic paints or textile paints.…
How to Stencil a Shirt
What American Girl doesn't like making new matching outfits? We all do! All you need is T-shirts, a stencil and ink pads, and some cardboard. Make skirts, too!
Spotlight: Kathy Engholm, Glass Artist
Kathy works in fused glass using her own glass-on-glass screenprinting method. Each piece begins with her original photograph to produce each screen.