After seeing this gorgeous stenciled blouse on Kasia’s blog, I was dying to try out fabric stenciling myself. So I went to Michaels and picked up some acrylic fabric paints, stencils and got to work. I have piles and piles of boring, solid color fabric that I got cheaply from thrift stores (various bed linens, curtains, etc) so I thought that this would be the perfect way to jazz them up. It took a bit of practice, as I foolishly chose to pay little attention to the warnings of experienced stencilers to not overload the brush with too much paint. Not a good idea, and as a result, my first attempt ended up in the waste bin. Too much paint will cause the color to bleed underneath the borders of the stencils. You really have to make sure that your brush is almost dry when you’re dabbing your paint on. Yes, dabbing (in an up and down, perpendicular motion) — as opposed to brushing. It takes a few coats (which can be a bit wearing on the wrist muscles) in order to achieve an opaque finish — but the outcome is quite beautiful, I think!

Here’s some stenciling I did on a wristlet pouch and basic tote that I made out of a couple of thriftstore bedsheets. I used Tulip brand Soft fabric paint.