How to Make DIY Mondrian Fabric

Have you ever made your own custom fabric that's totally all your own?  In our studios, we make our own custom fabrics all the time!  One design we love is the Mondrian-inspired fabric that designer Lauri Eaton creates using Tulip Soft Paint and masking tape.  It turns out so cool and uber modern.  You might just want to make your own for custom upholstery jobs like the chair above or to cover pillows or lampshades. Here's how you do it!

What you need: – 4 oz Tulip Soft Paints in colors of your choice

– 1 to 2 yards of white fabric (we used white canvas for ours)

– 1 inch and 1/4" rolls of masking tape

– Large paintbrush

– foam or paper plates for paint palettes

– Large table or space to lay out your fabric

Before you begin: Pour your paints onto your plates so you have a handy palette for each color.  Also iron your fabric and lay it flat onto your surface. Secure it in place with your masking tape.

Now you will want to start taping! Unroll your tape and arrange in random diagonal shapes. Get artful with the placement of you wide and thin strips of tape.

Start to fill in each taped area with paint.  Lauri chose to alternate colors as she went, so that colors were evenly distributed all over the fabric.  Make sure to be careful and stay within the tape lines for the most precise look!

This is what the fabric looks like right before it was finished. As you can see, Lauri used the colors sparingly, while black was the main color distributed all over the fabric. This makes the color pops even more dramatic!  Once you are finished painting and before it is completely dry, you will want to start removing the tape.  If you let the paint dry totally, sometimes parts of the tape will want to stick to the fabric when you peel it away.

Now the fun part!  The reveal!  Lauri pulls the tape off of the fabric. Just be careful not to get paint from your fingers or excess tape onto the white parts of the fabric. Keep a trash can handy to immediately throw the tape away! Let the fabric dry completely 4-6 before you wash.

Here's the final product in use on this awesome chair Lauri made. For the full Mondrian-Inspired Chair here.

What project would you like to try using this awesome fabric painting technique?