Ingrid Whitcher

My daughter and I spent the afternoon marbling fabric. I had heard of a technique that used shaving cream as the suspension for the paint. We had so much fun!!!

First you start with a work surface. We covered the table with craft paper and then used the shiny side of a large piece of freezer paper. The foam shaving cream is sprayed onto the freezer paper – a little larger than the size of your piece of fabric.

Next, you smooth out the surface of the shaving cream – I used a large pastry cutter. (It worked great and cleans off nicely.)

Then you start adding the paint to the surface. We tried several different ways and liked the way it looked to just put drops all over instead of lines of paint. We only used two colors on this piece – pink and yellow.

Once all the paint is on the shaving cream, you start to make the design. We used chop-sticks to swirl the paint. Do not overwork it or it will loose it’s definition and start to look brown or muddy.

When you are pleased with the design, carefully lay the fabric down. We used muslin.

Gently smooth out the fabric – do not push down.

Wait a few minutes and then carefully lift off the fabric.

Use the pastry cutter or a squeegee to remove the excess shaving cream. Make a swipe across the fabric and then wipe the edge of the tool clean before making the next swipe. If the tool is not clean it will smear the paint.

Heat set the paint using a hot, dry iron. We used a pressing cloth and there was a small amount of paint bleeding into it so I am very glad we did. These are some of the fabrics we did.