William Morris Willow Wall Stencil Pattern William Morris Willow Wall Stencil Pattern

How to Stencil - FABRIC STENCILING

How to stencil on fabric: A complete DIY fabric stenciling guide  

Fabric stenciling is an easy and affordable way to personalize home textiles, clothing, and craft projects with custom painted designs. Whether you're decorating curtains, pillow covers, tote bags, table runners, or upholstery. Cutting Edge Stencils' reusable fabric stencils make it simple to achieve crisp, professional-looking results without advanced painting skills.

With the right preparation, paint, and application technique, you can create durable designs that last through regular use and washing. This guide explains everything from choosing fabric paint and preparing different fabrics to preventing paint bleed, heat setting, and caring for your finished project. 

What supplies you'll need for fabric stenciling

Supplies needed for fabric stenciling laid out flat

How to prepare your fabric for stenciling

Make sure that the fabric you will be stenciling is clean, wrinkle-free and ready to go. Many types of fabric are suitable for DIY fabric stenciling, but in general, natural cotton, silk, and linen with a tighter weave accept paint much better than synthetics. 

Sheer fabrics and velvets can be more difficult to stencil, but it is still possible. Fabric with lots of texture might not be suitable for stenciling. Cotton T-shirt fabric works nicely for stenciling. Now, let's walk through the process step by step. 

  1. Pre-wash and iron: First, pre-wash and iron the fabric to remove as many wrinkles as possible. Ironing along the natural fabric grain keeps the fabric smooth and prevents puckering while you paint.

  2. Choose your surface: Then place the fabric on a flat, smooth work surface like a table, a piece of plywood, or even on the floor. Be sure that there are no ridges or bumps on that surface, as they can telegraph and become visible when you stencil.

  3. Add a barrier underneath: Depending on the thickness of the fabric you are using, you may wish to have a piece of plastic or cardboard under it to prevent the paint from bleeding through the fabric and getting on your table surface.

  4. Tape it down: Tape the fabric to your surface, pulling it tight and keeping it square, but avoid stretching it.

Masking tips

When stenciling fabric, always use a low-tack painter's tape such as 3M blue tape. Avoid masking over freshly painted surfaces as the tape can pull the paint up. Burnish the edge of the tape for a cleaner line. Always remove your masking tape slowly, pulling it at an angle.

What is the best paint for fabric stenciling

When it comes to the best paint for fabric stenciling, you have two reliable options. You can use a specific fabric paint such as Jacquard textile paint. Regular acrylic paint can also be used when mixed with a textile medium, which improves flexibility and wash durability. For acrylic paint, it is best to add a few drops of textile medium to the paint. 

This helps to make the paint softer and easier to apply while minimizing paint seepage under the stencil. Fabric medium is available at most craft stores. Textile paints have fabric medium already mixed in.

How to use spray adhesive

When stenciling fabric, repositionable adhesive spray is a must. Using a good quality stencil spray makes your fabric stenciling project easy and gives your prints crisper edges. Always apply your spray adhesive in a well-ventilated area. 

Mist the back of the stencil and let it dry for a few minutes so the adhesive tacks up. This will prevent any of the spray adhesive from transferring to the fabric. Reapply as necessary during your project.

Choosing your colors

Look at some reference for color combinations that work well together and do a test sample so you are comfortable with your choices. We love using white index cards for color swatches.

Choosing color combination and doing color swatches

If you want a sneak peek at how your colors will look together before committing to the full project, this is the quickest way to do it: 

  1. Test on a scrap first: You can test your stencil and colors on a scrap piece of similar fabric or on a discreet place on your project.

  2. Practice your technique: Do a few prints to get comfortable with your technique.

  3. Keep a reference sample: It is also nice to have a sample for color and pattern reference so you can take it with you when shopping for accessories.

How to paint on fabric with stencils 

Once your fabric is prepped and your paint is ready, follow these steps to get clean, crisp results every time. 

Step 1: Positioning your fabric stencil

Generally, we recommend starting at the top left when stenciling a large design on a large textile, such as a curtain or tablecloth.

You can measure and mark light guidelines with a chalk pencil that can be easily wiped off after stenciling, but before you heat-set the fabric.

Step 2: Stenciling with a dense foam roller

This is a super fast way to get the job done and works great for a curtain or tablecloth stenciling project.

  1. Load the roller evenly: Pour your stencil paint into a tray and evenly load your dense foam roller by rolling it a few times through the paint, applying medium pressure. We do not want a blotchy-looking roller. 

    Loading a foam roller with yellow paint evenly

  2. Offload the excess paint: Once your stencil roller is evenly saturated with paint, offload the excess paint by rolling it a couple of times on folded paper towels.

  3. Check for even coating: If the roller leaves stripy lines on the paper towels, reload the roller so it is evenly coated and then offload it again.

  4. Less paint is always better: The roller should appear somewhat dry. Remember, it is always better to have less paint on your roller because too much paint can cause paint seepage under the stencil.

  5. Apply with light pressure: Start rolling and slowly build up paint coverage using a circular motion and light to medium pressure. Do not push too hard, as this can cause paint bleed under the stencil. 

    Rolling yellow paint over stencil with light pressure

  6. Check coverage before removing: Carefully un-tape and pull back a corner of the stencil to see if your paint coverage is satisfactory before you remove the stencil fully.  

    Peeling back stencil corner to check paint coverage

  7. Reload as you go: Reload and unload the roller as necessary during your stenciling project.

Step 3: Built-in registration for repeat stencil patterns

Most Cutting Edge Stencils have a built-in registration that makes alignment easy for a repeat stencil pattern. This means that the stencil aligns with previously stenciled elements. Alignment instructions are shown in the stencil's description on our website.

What is the best brush for fabric stenciling

Sometimes you cannot use a dense foam roller due to the shape of your project, so using a stencil brush is perfect for those situations. A foam brush or dedicated stencil brush works better when you are using a stencil with small openings, and for multicolor stenciling. 

The best brush for fabric stenciling detailed work is a firm-bristled stencil brush since it gives you more control in tight corners and lets you shade between layers of color more naturally.

  1. Match brush size to stencil openings: Select your stencil brush size based on the size of the stencil openings. In general, the smaller the stencil openings, the smaller the brush.

  2. Load the brush lightly: Pour your stencil paint onto a tray.

    Pouring stencil paint onto plate for brush loading

  3. Distribute paint into the bristles: Dip the stencil brush tip into the paint, only about 1/8 inch, and then swirl it on the tray to evenly distribute the paint into the bristle tips.

  4. Offload before painting: Offload the excess paint onto some folded paper towels. Like the roller, the brush should appear almost dry.

  5. Use a swirling motion for shading: Use a light swirling motion for a softer look and for shading. Avoid a sweeping motion towards the edges of the stencil openings since it can force the paint under the stencil.  

    Blending pink flower stencil using swirling brush motion

  6. Pounce to fill large areas: Pouncing, which is a straight up and down motion, works great for filling in areas.

When using multiple colors, use a separate brush for each color to avoid color contamination.

How to prevent paint bleed on fabric 

Paint bleed on fabric while stenciling

Stencil bleed occurs when wet paint seeps under the edge of the stencil, leaving a less-than-perfect print. Do not worry about this too much, but do take measures to reduce the amount of bleed. Know that there will always be some minor bleed or imperfections, as we are creating a hand-painted textile. 

But when the fabric is stenciled, and you look at the entire project, your eye will see the color and the pattern, and in most cases you would not even notice a little bleed.

To keep bleed to a minimum:

  • Do not overload your stencil roller or brush with wet paint; blot off excess paint onto a paper towel, then build the paint coverage up slowly without pressing hard.

  • Use repositionable adhesive spray for crisper edges.

  • There is less chance of bleed when you work in thin, gradual layers rather than one heavy pass.

How to heat set fabric paint 

Ironing fabric to set paint and prevent bleed

Heat setting your stenciled fabric is a way to increase the bond between the paint and the fabric by essentially melting the paint into the fibers. This significantly adds to the durability of your stenciled fabric and helps to keep the stenciling from fading when it is washed.

Slowly iron your completely dry stenciled fabric through a piece of thin cotton cloth for about 30 seconds on a low setting, making sure to heat all of the stencil design. This process will permanently set the paint and add durability.

Can you wash stenciled fabric?

Yes. Once properly heat set, stenciled fabric can be washed without the design fading or peeling. Always make sure the paint is completely dry before you heat set, and always iron through a thin cotton cloth rather than directly on the design.

How to clean your stencil and tools

If you clean your brushes, rollers, and stencils as soon as you are done with your project, the paint comes off much more easily.  

Brush cleaning  

  • Never soak natural bristle brushes for long time: When brushes sit in water for long time, their bristles expand and can break the metal brush ferrule. Clean your brushes right after finishing or soak them briefly, so the paint does not dry into the bristles and ruin them for your next project.

  • Use the right cleaner: Using a drop of brush cleaner or Murphy's Oil Soap works well for cleaning brushes.

  • Use a scrubbing tool for deeper cleaning: Using a brush scrubbing tool helps remove paint particles from the brush bristles more effectively.

    Brush scrubbing tool for removing paint from bristles

  • Keep brushes from drying out mid-project: If you take a break during your project, place your brushes or roller in a plastic bag or cover them with a damp cloth to keep them from drying out.

Stencil cleaning

  • Scrub under running water: Lay it on a flat surface such as a cutting board or a cookie tray, spray it with water, and gently scrub with a dish brush under running water.

  • Protect your drain: Make sure you have a sink strainer in place to catch any paint pieces.

  • Soak caked paint first: If the paint on the stencil is very dry, what we call caked, let it soak for a while before scrubbing it.

  • Pat dry and lay flat: Lay the cleaned stencil onto paper towels and pat or roll it dry with a roll of paper towels.

It is not easy to remove stencil spray adhesive from the stencil, but the product called Signature Thread Spray It DK5 Glue Remover works really well. 

Our stencils are very durable and, with proper care and cleaning, should last for years and work beautifully across other projects too.

It is best to store your stencil flat whenever possible. We recommend placing your clean stencils between 2 pieces of wax paper or cardboard and storing them flat in a large drawers, under the bed or even under an area rug. You can also hang them clipped to a clothes hanger.

Now that you know the basics of fabric stenciling, see how these techniques can be used on real DIY projects. These step-by-step videos show different ways to decorate fabric with reusable stencils.