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Show Stencil cottons with bright color !5T fin ... . . i"i..ru .. .)". yd1 : .. -a Whether you're the all-thumbs all-thumbs type or an experienced experienc-ed do-it-yourselfer, you'll find stenciling is an easy way to imprint im-print colorful designs on fabric. fab-ric. For one thing, it's a craft that demands little in the way of artistic talent. You can buy stencil designs or trace them from art books or magazines. Use stenciled motifs on place mats, curtains, pillow covers, bedspreads, dresses, aprons, even towels and pillowcases. Items stenciled with permanent, perma-nent, washable textile colors can be machine-washed without with-out colors fading. Choose a firmly woven all-cotton all-cotton fabric for best results. Wash first to remove any sizing siz-ing in the fabric, and press. For stenciling, you'll need textile paints, special stencil paper or any heavy waxed paper, pa-per, a stencil knife or single-edge single-edge razor blade, and a short stubby stencil brush. Paints, brush, and stencil paper pa-per are available at hobby shops or art stores. Heavy waxed butcher's paper or freezer paper also can be used. For your first stencil, use a simple design either a ready-made ready-made one or a motif traced from an art book or a magazine maga-zine picture. Flowers, fruit, sunbursts, leaves, animal shapes and birds are good choices. To cut your own stencil, place waxed stencil paper on top of a design you have sketched or traced on white paper. Tape to hold securely in place. Hold up against a window pane so the outline of the sketched design will be visible vis-ible through the stencil paper. Trace design onto stencil paper pa-per with a hard pencil. Then cut out the design with a special spe-cial stencil knife or single-edge single-edge razor blade. If you plan to use more than one color in the design, cut separate stencils for each color col-or area. For instance, your design may be a flower with a long stem and leaves. You plan to paint the flower red, and the stem and leaves green. Therefore, There-fore, cut one stencil for the flower and another for the stem and leaves. Put fabric to be stenciled on a blotter or thick cardboard to take up any excess paint. Tack or tape the stencil in place on the fabric. In using textile paints, follow fol-low manufacturer's directions. Stroke color on fabric with a stubby brush, working from the outer edge of the stencil cutout toward the center. Be sure you do not have too much paint on the brush. Wipe off excess paint on a paper before you start each brush stroke. Let the first color dry before be-fore stenciling the next color area with a separate stencil cutout. After you've decorated something some-thing simple like place mats you'll want to try your hand at a bigger project, like a bedspread bed-spread or tablecloth. Stencil motifs over the entire spread, or just around the hem of a tablecloth. You'll find it's easy to be your own decorator when you take up stenciling. . ' - , STENCILED PLACE MAT One of the simplest of decorative srts is stenciling a fascinating craft currently envying I ' surge of popularity. It's an old method of transferring designs' t0 furniture and fabrics A red and green flower motif hat , been stenciled on this yellow cotton place mat and napkin nil WD APPLYING COLOR Pin or tape the stencil in place on the fabric. Apply textile paint with a stubby stencil brush, stroking strok-ing on color from the outer edges of the stencil cutout toward to-ward the center. By using permanent per-manent textile paint and cotton cot-ton fabrics, the place mats will be washable. ' FIRST STEP In making sten ciled place mats, first cut out the design on heavy waxed paper. pa-per. Use a special stencil knife toor a single-edge razor blade lor cutting. Cut flower petals "f from one sheet of stencil paper, pa-per, and stem and leaf designs from a separate sheet. |