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Sometimes it's just not worth the cost to work with specialized materials. For a more casual crafter, fabric paint is probably one of those supplies. The seemingly affordable paint containers tend to be very small, while the worthwhile sized containers tend to be very expensive. But there is a way to work around this issue with a simple product.

Textile medium is an acrylic paint additive that allows for proper adhesion and permanence on a fabric project. While each brand has specific instructions, the general rule is to use a one to one ratio of textile medium to acrylic paint. Make sure the project dries for twenty-four hours before heat-setting the design with an appropriate temperature on the iron. This works out well for a more casual artist or crafter because acrylic paints tend to be more cost efficient than fabric paints. A five dollar container of textile medium goes a long way.

While there are certainly other methods to producing fabric paint from scratch, the results tend to be inconsistent from batch to batch. Fresh pigments can produce a vibrant color no one else has for their fabric art, but are difficult to control for consistency. In other words, if you don't make enough of one color at one time, you probably won't get an exact match unless you also invest in an accurate electronic scale and scientific grade measuring instruments to insure consistent quality.

Natural food items can be quite effective as dyes for fabric, such as the water from boiled red cabbage, but for long term storage can be problematic. Recipes involving milk and other short shelf-life products can and will go bad, potentially ruining your project if you go for longterm storage.

From experience, the best and cheapest way to obtain consistent results is the 1:1 acrylic to textile medium ratio. If you ever need more of a color, you can go out and purchase the same tube you worked with before. It doesn't even need to be the premium acrylic products from a high end craft store.

Here are some helpful hints for actually painting on fabric.

1. Pre-wash and press the fabric.
The importance of pre-washing and pressing the fabric cannot be stressed enough. Sometimes, it's impossible to predict just how fabric is going to react to being washed. By pre-washing, any of the chemical residue from the manufacturing process will be washed out. Also, the fabric will shrink pretty much as far as it will go. It's also a smart idea to press the fabric before working to create a clean and level surface.

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