DIY Painted Curtains {Tutorial}

Here is the tutorial for my painted curtains!

 

 I apologize for the lack of light in these pictures: downside of working after the little one goes to bed, no natural light coming indoors.

Materials Needed:
*Acrylic paint
*Fabric Medium paint {helps the paint adhere to fabric}
*Roller brush {I also used a stencil dabber at certain parts}
*Curtains of your choice
*Stencil
*Blue painters tape {or any preference of tape}
*Drop cloth or something to lay under your curtain

Let's Begin!
PREP PREP PREP!

It may take a few minutes extra, but taking the time to prep and be sure you have everything secured down will help eliminate any errors.
I taped down the drop cloth so it wouldn't move and cause problems, and also taped down the curtain to prevent any slipping while I was moving the stencil around.

I bought my stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils and I LOVED the high quality and ease it made stenciling.  I figure the investment for the stencil was worth it since I was saving money doing it myself anyways.

Let's Paint!

 Fabric Medium is the secret to painting on fabric.  You can buy it at Micheal's or almost any craft store.  It helps keep the paint softer and adheres to the fabric better than if you attempted to paint directly to fabric without the medium.  I just mixed the two together, and if you're using paint with color, it doesn't effect the result of the color either which is great.

I used a stencil dabber {see the paint tray for example} in the beginning because the grommets made the stencil elevate off the fabric a little, and I wanted to be extra careful.  Using a dabber takes a VERY long time... so after about two rows when the stencil was more flat I used a soft roller {as pictured in Materials needed}.
After the first section was complete, it was ready to take a peak and see if it had worked... or if my attempt was complete failure.

Moment of truth.....

It worked!

Now it was time to move the stencil to the next section....simply {and very carefully} lift the stencil off the curtain and move to the new section to be painted.  Remember to be sure to pay attention to the design and realign it correctly so there's no gaps, or changes in the stencil design. 

As you can see here, I needed to lay the stencil back over a partly painted area to make the pattern continuous for the 3rd and 4th section.  Just be sure to take your time and pay attention to the details.  


Once your all done... sit back and look at your first completed panel. {HAPPY DANCE}
And trust me... I did my happy dance for a long time!

I just let mine air dry for about three hours, but a tip on the fabric medium is to use a blow dryer on the back side of the fabric that you painted on to speed up drying time.  I envisioned myself attempting to pick up the curtain and blow drying it and all I saw was a disaster so I let it be.. and patiently waited for it to completely dry. 

Overall from prep to clean up one panel took about two hours (plus three more hours of drying) so plan ahead and be patient!  It's a long project, especially depending on how many panels you have but the results are fantastic!

Hope the tutorial works for you and please, please let me know if you paint your own curtains!  Link back to me with your post about your curtains, or even send me an email with pictures!


Happy painting!

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