So Soft as Silk

My inspiration came from the beautiful Lalique opalescent Glass vases and lights

I wanted the feathers to have softness so opted for a very fine white silk which absorbed the colours beautifully and has a rich luminosity 

DecoArt So Soft Fabric Paint colours work on a variety of fabrics, muslin, canvas, interface to name but a few. I’m working on another project using canvas and it stencils perfectly

I placed the silk on a glass cutting mat and spritzed with water stretching it flat

This helps keep the fabric flat by sticking it the Mat and the water allows the paint to soak in and create subtle blended washes

I applied the paint in spots and spritzed with water again and started to blend with vertical brush strokes to ensure that I had a nice blend of colour on the feathers

I used Lamp Black, Brown, Crimson, Tangerine, White, Metallic Renaissance Brown and Luminous Gold, as I wanted to achieve similar colours to a Sparrow Hawks feathers

It's important to work fairly quickly so that the dots of colour are blended in. You can really work the Fabric paint like any acrylic and get some fantastic blends and brush stroke textures

I also used the metallics which give a subtle super fine shimmery lustre

Leave to dry naturally for about 2 hours or zap with a heat tool, I prefer this as it allows you to stretch out any wrinkles, but always stretch in the direction of the brush strokes as the paint is still pliable

Once dry I stamped the Artemio feather directly onto the silk you can use the So soft paint to stamp or a standard ink pad

DecoArt paint is non-flammable and perfect for lampshades, always best to avoid any products that are solvent based if they are near any heat source

Because the silk is fine and adhered to the board it can be cut with a craft knife and finish trimming detail with scissors

I then applied the feathers in rows with a fabric adhesive, mixing up the various colours to create a random effect

I hope you have enjoyed my tutorial, any questions please just ask

Jools : )