Make your own fabric designs by using a stamp on fabric with textile paints. You can use any type of stamp — either purchased or one you make yourself. Here is how to stamp on fabric.

Stamping on fabric is one of many techniques to embellish the surface of your fabric, adding your personal mark to your projects. I wanted flies on fabric for a quilt in our Letters Home series, where my mother talks about how the flies were terrible. I couldn’t find a good fly stamp, so I made my own to make my own fabric.

One piece of custom printed fabric

How to Stamp on Fabric

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Active Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Make your own fabric designs with a stamp and textile paints!

Stamping on fabric is a fun and easy project and you create designs that are unique and all yours. Generally, larger stamps work better (larger than 1"). Delicate, small stamps with fine details are best suited for ink and paper.

You can print on solid fabrics or on prints as I did in this tutorial. Spiff up an ugly fabric with some textile paint stamping! Yes, you really can make an ugly kinda interesting with just a little paint and time.

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Once you start stamping fabrics, you won't stop - you'll look at each piece of fabric a little differently. What can you add to make it more interesting?

Materials

Textile paint
Fabric

Tools

Brayer
Gelli plate
Stamp
Painter's tape

Instructions

Gather your supplies for stamping your fabric. I choose this printed fabric for my stamping and made my own stamp for the fly - I couldn't find one that suited my vision for this fabric to use in an art quilt.
Using painter's tape, carefully tape your base fabric to your surface. I used a vinyl tablecloth to protect my table from the paint. You can use a piece of plexiglass or other plastic tablecloths to protect your table.

Pour about 1 teaspoon of textile paint onto your Gelli plate. Use the brayer to make a very think layer of paint on the Gelli plate. Using a Gelli plate makes a cushioned surface for the paint, making it easy to get an even coat of paint on your stamp. It acts like a stamp pad for the textile paints.
Gently press your stamp onto the paint, and then gently press the stamp onto your fabric.
Continue stamping until you are satisfied with your new fabric design. When the paint on your Gelli plate gets used, put a little more on the plate and repeat spreading it evenly with your brayer.
When you are satisfied with your design, allow the paint to dry on the fabric. If you want to add a second (or more) colors, now is the time to do that. You'll want the fabric to dry between layers of paint.

Once you are done stamping and the fabric is dry, heat set your fabric with your iron according to the directions on the textile paint. Now your new fabric design is ready to use in a project!
I added wings with a sheer fabric and fusible web. (If you try this, use a teflon sheet or parchment paper for fusing - otherwise it sticks to your iron!).

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Tips for stamping on fabric:

For best results, prepare your fabric by washing and drying to remove any coatings that might interfere with the paint. I add synthrapol to the wash that helps remove all finishes to the fabric.
Use a brayer or rubber roller to spread your textile paint very thin on a soft surface like a Gelli plate to evenly coat the paint on your stamp.
Use painter’s tape to tape your fabric to a softer work surface. I use a vinyl tablecloth over a cardboard cutting board. This protects my table from any spills or if the paint gets too thick and bleeds through the fabric. And the thick piece of cardboard has a little give to make a nice impression. Make sure your surface is flat.
As you stamp, continue to use your brayer and spread the paint to be stamped very thinly on your Gelli plate. If needed, add a little more paint.
Test your stamp on scrap fabric before printing your final fabric. I prefer to test on the fabric rather than scrap paper as inks move differently on fabric than on paper.
If you are impatient for the paint to dry, you can use a heat gun tool on a low heat setting to dry the paint. Be very careful to not blow the paint around on the fabric. I prefer to be patient. 🙂
Don’t have a Gelli plate and brayer? You can spread a thin layer of paint on a paper plate or styrofoam plate with a foam brush to use as your stamp pad.

What are the best fabric stamps?

Any stamp can work to print on fabric. I prefer stamps without too much detail. Fabric absorbs and spreads the paint more than paper and the small details can get blurred or lost.

Use rubber stamps that make nice clear prints.

Clear acrylic stamps are nice to use because you can see exactly where your stamped print will be printed.

What ink or paints do you use to stamp on fabrics?

You can use acrylic paints, but sometimes they don’t hold up as well as textile paints or fabric paints. Also, you can use a permanent ink stamp pad. Ink pads are a lot more expensive and don’t have much ink, so be aware if you plan on embellishing a large piece of fabric. I like to use textile paints. To make the stamp permanent, be sure to follow the paint directions to set the paint. Generally, textile paints are heat set with an iron.

Pigment ink and textile ink can also be used.

What type of fabric is best for printing and stamping?

You can stamp and print on pretty much any type of fabric. This process works on delicate fabrics, canvas and quilting cottons. Even synthetic fabrics can be embellished with the stamping process if you are using acrylic based textile or fabric paints. If you are using natural dyes for stamping, you’ll need to make sure you are using natural fiber fabrics.

What are some project ideas for stamping on fabric?

Buy plain tea towels and dress them up with stamps!
Make a table runner and then stamp with a motif or design.
Add customization to plain children’s clothing with fun stamps.
Decorate throw pillows with stamps. You can use stamps on purchased plain pillow covers. In this article I show you how to stencil on pillow covers, but stamps work great, too!
Pretty much any sewing project can be enhanced with a little bit of stamp printing!
Have fun with fabric stamping! The ideas are limitless!