PAINTED FABRIC || painting fabric with Chalk Paint®

A few weeks ago, I received a phone call from a lady; they were moving her mom to an apartment and needing to downsize.  She wanted to know if I would like to come look at the items they were needing move.  I loaded up the girls, picked up a girlfriend and we were on our way.  She had a beautiful table and chair set.  Absolutely beautiful!  But, it was a big set and I didn't have room.  So I came home with a pair of chairs and some smaller treasures.

The chairs were in really good shape, and super comfortable.  Since I don't have the skills necessary to reupholster these beauties, I decided to paint them.

Here are the details on how I painted fabric with Chalk Paint®.

- Vacuumed the fabric and trimmed the loose strings.

- Wiped down the wood with a warm, damp rag.  After allowing the wood to dry, I painted two coats of Milk Paint {Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint ~ ironstone} on the wood.  I was fine with the paint chipping, so I did not apply the bonding agent.

- For the fabric, I added water to Chalk Paint®.  I added 4 parts {OLD OCHRE} Chalk Paint® to a mason jar and 1 part water.  Shake it good to thin the paint down a bit.  By thinning the paint down it helps the paint to cover easier, and it makes it a bit softer to the touch once it dries.

- Once the fabric was painted, I touched up the painted wood with an artist brush.  I didn't tape anything off, so naturally I had a bit of the fabric paint color on the wood details.  I sanded the edges of the wood to give the wood a distressed look.

- The last step was to apply clear wax to the wood and the fabric.  The wax helped to soften the fabric and also provides a protective barrier.

I am very happy with the results.  The fabric is not 'crunchy' or hard.  It's not super soft like cotton or linen, it feels more like an outdoor fabric.  One day I may have these chairs reupholstered, but for now I am very happy with how they turned out!  And no sewing skills were required ;-)