Potato Printing

WARNING!! This is addictive

Posted by Tara Gypsy Apples

About

I made my gran a shirt for her birthday yesterday and i was so extactic with the results and had sooo much fun that i just had to make another one so that i could do a step by step and share it with everyone:)

i did a shirt and vest, but you could do a blanket,dress,shorts,pillow...a wall. anything!

if you're doing clothes though, just make sure that you use fabric paint!

be prepared for A LOT of fun!! if you have small children,this is a perfect craft for them too:)

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You Will Need (5 things)

  • Pin(s)
  • Craft Knife
  • Potato
  • Fabric Paint
  • Pencil

Steps (16 steps, 20 minutes)

  1. 1

    get all your supplies toogether

  2. 2

    draw (or print) whatever image you want to do on a scrap of paper.

    i did a cat but the possibilities are endless.

    it might be cool to do different sizes of the same print or more than one shape.

    my sister and i have some aaawesome ideas!! :D but you'll have to wait to see those (follow my tumblr or facebook because i update that more frequently)

  3. 3

    cut out the shape

  4. 4

    cut a potato in half

    *when choosing the potato, make sure its big enough for the size design you want to do

    use some paper/kitchen towling to dry up the moisture from the potato or leave it out for a while to dry

  5. 5

    pin your shape to a potato half

  6. 6

    cut around the outside of the design

  7. 7

    remove the design and slice off the sides so that the design sticks up

    (difficult to explain but just look at the picture)

  8. 8

    it's useful to stick toothpicks through the design so you know when its straight, because it's difficult to tell when the potato is upside down

  9. 9

    put a board/cardboard of some sort in the shirt so that the paint doesn't go through to the other side

  10. 10

    cover the design with paint

    you can either pour paint into a container and dip it in or use a brush

    i used a brush, i like the effect of the brush strokes in the design (see what i mean in step 12)

  11. 11

    place the potato paint side down.carefully.
    and press down evenly so that the full design will transfer

  12. 12

    here you can see the brush strokes i was talking about

  13. 13

    keep going till you're happy with the overall appearance

    allow to dry

    mine dried almost instantly. but it's always safest to wait about half an hour. depending on your paint

  14. 14

    pose for a photo in your new shirt :D

  15. 15

    get approval from the nearest cat <3

  16. 16

    when you wash the shirt/blanket/pillow for the 1st time, wash it separately to make sure the colours don't run