Tutorial Monday :: Crayon Tinting

 

Looking to add a little oomph to your stitcheries? Wanting to have more color but not wanting to satin stitch until you get a sore wrist? Then consider crayon tinting as a fun, easy alternative to fill in your outlines and add shading and dimension to your project.

SUPPLIES:

• design for stitching
• fabric (preferrably a tight-weave cotton) larger than your image
• assorted colored Crayola crayons (other brands may not work as well)
• extra fabric for padding
• iron
• embroidery floss
• needle
• embroidery hoop

STEPS:
1. Pre-wash your fabric to remove sizing. The color will adhere better to washed fabric. Transfer your design to fabric, tracing with a pencil or using a transfer pen or carbon paper. Make sure your lines are well defined because they will determine the outlines for your coloring. 

 

2. Some sites recommend fusing your fabric to a stabilizer or freezer paper to make coloring easier. I simply added a few layers of fabric underneath as padding and put them all in an embroidery hoop. Much easier, I think. If you find that you're not getting enough of a hard surface underneath to color well, you can always put a solid object underneath and move it around to provide resistance as needed. Whoa! Did that sound scientific or what?
3. Using gentle, one-way strokes, apply color. Having padding will help reduce hard marks or streaks. The rest is up to your imagination! Layer on color until you are happy. I like to have my coloring darker at the edges where the embroidery will be. Just my preference, though.

 

4. When you're done coloring, take your fabric out of the hoop and sandwich it between two layers of paper, back side up. Iron with a warm iron. The paper will absorb the excess melted crayon, preventing your ironing board from getting all icky. 

 

5. Once set and cool, put your colored design back in the hoop and start stitching! It's recommended to hand wash embroideries with crayon tinting to keep the colors from fading. 

HELPFUL HINTS:

When tracing your pattern onto the fabric, be sure to use a line that will be darker than your coloring so you'll be able to follow it when you're ready to stitch. I traced using a light purple and lost a lot of lines after coloring!

If you're raiding your kids' crayon box for this project, make sure the crayons have clean tips. Otherwise, you might end up with a splotch of green on a flesh-colored leg. Ahem. That would be me.

Hope this inspired you to try something new! If you need some inspiration, here's some crayon tinted lovelies via Flickr. Thanks for stopping by!

Comments

[Tamie Snow]

Awesome Lauren! You rockstar you!

[carolbrowne]

Excellent! Thanks for that info. I'm going to try it with some Day of the Dead dishcloths I'm going to me making. Soon. Very soon.

[Erin K]

That is awesome! I can't wait to try it.

[upstatelisa]

Wow! How cool! My 9 yo daughter just started stitching this weekend! I bet she would like this too!

[Melissa H]

cool! I never would have thought of this!

[Tiffani Baum]

Actually, try PRANG crayons. The pigments are much better, less waxy and more durable. There is a merchant at all the National quilt shows I attend that demonstrates using them for designs on quilt blocks. Sorry I can't remember her name at this moment. You can find PRANG at most craft places like Hobby Lobby, Michaels, etc. They work great.

[deevan]

Great idea. Never done this and it really opens the mind to other ideas with other types of coloring or paints.

[Terry]

Great idea and it produces such a even soft color that you could not get with say, fabric markers. Thanks

[Amy]

great tutorial, Lauren!

[Stine]

what about crayons for coloring fabric? Have you tried them? What is the difference from regular crayons?

[threeundertwo]

This goes on my list! Must do it! Thanks so much for the tutorial!

[pondhopper]

Suh-weeet! I can see playing with this idea for some other altered art projects. This will give me something to do with a box of cheap-o crayons I purchased from the dollar store!

[Holly]

Oh man, this looks so much easier than watercolour - THANK YOU! This definitely goes right to the top of my to-do list!

[Julie]

great tute, much better than me trying to figure it out on my own with a hot iron. :o)

[Linda]

Another hint: if the color isn't strong enough or even enough, bring your crayon over and hit it again when warm, then iron again. Love this technique!

[Bladerunner]

This is fantastic. I'm new to embroidering, and I bring along years of tendonitis with me. This is a great way to fill in areas without driving myself crazy or into paroxysms of pain with satin stitches. Thanks!

[angel]

Thank you for a great Tut, i am tempted to Wrestle the crayons off a nipper and get my stitching back out again........... yippee.

Once again thank you. X x X x X

[Kim H]

I love this tutorial! I did it on a tea towel!

http://runningonink.typepad.com/316/2008/09/fri-cake-day-is-back.html

[linda]

thanks so much for this, it's wonderful!!