Thank you for your post to our Fabric Painting Forum. This is a wonderful question. The answer lies in the type of fabric paint used. For this application, only a smooth and truly dilute-able fabric paint will give you the desirable results. Stay away from latex-based fabric paints like TC Softly Flo paints and others. Only a high-quality acrylic fabric will be smooth enough for silk. Cameo Fabric Paints are a high-tech acrylic paint specially made for soft hand and soft touch results. They can be purchased online at
http://cameopaints.com/c-cart.htm . They can also be purchased from us by fax, mail, and phone. See our Support Webpage for full details on contacting us at
http://cameopaints.com/support.htm
One thing I would like to also mention is that the scarf can be dyed with a fabric DYE (instead) like Rit Liquid first for a very even base color then painted with fabric paints.
Either method gives you variety because you can "watercolor" paint it OR decorative paint it after the base color has dried. The choice is yours.
One other thing: The paint dyed scarf should be more launderable and holds its color through washings maybe a bit better.
The old oil-based fabric paints gave a nice smooth result when diluted with solvent, however, solvent is a dangerous chemical and quite unfriendly to our environment. It does not truly evaporate and stays in the water table until it is consumed by living beings. Common carriers will not transport it any longer either due to new laws. I only mention this here because it is important to understand that today's fabric paints are water-based and dilute-able with water only...a much better alternative and less expensive also.
If you do paint dye, heat setting, while not required, will help washability and that can be done very simply using a clothes dryer, hair dryer, oven, or dry iron. Otherwise, just allow acrylic formula fabric paints to air cure by not washing the article or garment for at least 7 days.
It is also important to understand that the type of silk you use will also effect outcome results. For smoothest results, be sure you use a highly-processed silk fabric that does not contain raw silk fibers or particles. Check dharmatrading.com for paintable fabrics. They describe the types of silk well so you can understand which will paint and dye the best. It is a wonderful website for learning but please understand right here that you do NOT need to buy special equipment and special paints to do great things on silk and other great fabrics. Just use a high-tech, high-quality acrylic fabric paint and some ordinary water for impressive results without all the expense. I can even help you personally with all that since my services come free with purchases from CameoPaints.com.
I hope this article/answer is helpful.
Happy Fabric Painting & Crafting,
Diane Seveland (support@cameopaints.com)
Forum Moderator and Fabric Painter and Teacher for 31 years.
