Red Hot Chillies

Look Record Remember

Sample possible techniques

You will need to work quickly, otherwise the paint will dry before you are ready. Have some kitchen roll handy to wipe up any spills.

Put some paint on the mirror tile and spread with the roller to achieve an even layer. Have the image you are trying to create in your mind and place the colour accordingly. Clean mirror surface and roller between colours but you can allow adjacent colour areas to blend a little where they meet. Keep it very simple - the aim is to have areas of colour in roughly the right position, not to paint a picture (see below).

Note: You can mix two or more paint colours (such as blue and yellow to make green) directly on the glass with a palette knife. The variations in shade achieved by this can make the result look more interesting.

Next, using bold strokes, draw the key lines of your image directly onto the glass using the blunt end of a pencil, paintbrush or similar tool (see right). Remember that the final print on fabric will be (literally) a mirror image.

Carefully place your fabric over the paint. Press evenly and firmly all over to transfer the paint onto the fabric (see below). Peel back the fabric and put aside to dry (see bottom pic).

Here, you can see the end result, with some stitching. Note that the mirror effect means that the image is reversed.

Spread paint on the mirror tile as before to load the roller then roll the paint directly onto the fabric. This treatment results in interesting textures on the cloth and provides a background to be enhanced with stitch (see below).

When the fabric is dry, 'draw' the key lines of your image with stitch, then fill in with dense free machine stitching as is shown in the sample on the right.

Decide the approximate size of the finished piece. Tear the cotton fabric into manageable sized pieces so that you can build up your background in sections. It's much easier to work small unless you have a very large work surface.

Using the roller technique, apply paint to the first section of fabric (see right). This will represent a section of your final image. Then pin the painted piece on a wall or lay it on the floor.

Refer to this section while producing the adjacent one. Continue until you have built up the entire background like a puzzle made of square or rectangular pieces. It will look a bit of mess at this stage but do not despair - it's only a background (see below).

Stitch in key outlines using a thicker than normal thread. This needs to be stitched from the back with the thicker thread in the bobbin. (It is preferable to have a spare bobbin case for this so as not to damage the fine tension setting of the normal one.)

Working from the top, start by roughly tacking the main outlines that you plan to follow. Turn over and use these tacking stitches as a guide for your first drawing lines using the thicker thread. Work with a darning foot and the feed dogs down.

In this example, the chilli shapes were stitched first in red. Next, draw the leaf shapes directly onto the backing fabric in pencil (an ordinary pencil is fine; it will all be covered eventually with stitch) then stitch over the lines, this time with thick green thread in the bobbin. Remember, the image will be reversed on the front.

If you prefer, you could couch the heavier thread to the quilt sandwich from the top.

Return to the front and fill the outlined shapes with dense machine stitching. Don't forget to change the bobbin/bobbin case before starting this stage. Vary the stitches and the threads. Consider which areas should be darker and which lighter in tone. The greater the variety of texture, the more interesting the result.

Trim edges. Look at the piece and finish the edges as desired.

Some hints on working with acrylic paint:

• Protect precious surfaces with plastic sheeting and newspaper.
• Acrylic paint dries very quickly so it is essential to work fast. For the same reason, wash any brushes or implements used before they dry out.
• Although painted fabric can be washed with care, it is not recommended.
• Acrylic paint is essentially plastic. Don't try to iron it. If you really must, sandwich the fabric between sheets of parchment paper, use a cool iron and no steam.
• Painted fabric can feel quite stiff at first. It will soften somewhat as you work with it and handle it.
• If you are unsure about working directly onto fabric, test the techniques on paper first.