Spray Painting a Needlepoint Background

Along with sponge painting a background, using fabric paints or dyes and a spray bottles to color canvas is a great way to make a custom background for a needlepoint canvas. I used a spray bottle of gold paint from Michel’s to color the models. In the second section of this article I’ll provide some alternatives. in the third section, I’ll give tips for doing this.

My dad sold industrial spray painting equipment and always had shoes splattered with small dots of enamel paints. I was concerned that this would happen with these paints, but it didn’t. These paints, usually in pump spray bottles, have spray that only covers small areas. You can see this in the pictures. If you are concerned about the spray area, test the spray on newspaper first.

The spray bottles were easy to use and the paint was slightly thinner than acrylic paint from the bottle. Although the package did not say so, the pant was acrylic craft paint with glitter.

The spray did not cover much space. For the model, I spaced the spray, but you could easily space your paint more closely.

As you can see from the picture above in places there can be thicker bits of paint. You can either brush it out as I did or use a tissue to blot up the excess paint.

Once this I complete, let your canvas dry and stitch away.

I really liked the results and plan to use this more often.

Other Products for Spray Painting

Occasionally you can find acrylic paints or dyes in aerosol spray cans. To use on canvas, these should be dye or acrylic paint only. These can be difficult to find. Do not use enamel paints on canvas.

An easy alternative is to use bottles of acrylic craft paint and small spray bottles. The paint needs to be thinned slightly before using. Add the water to the paint in the bottle. Be sure to shake well before using.These paints, and often the bottles, can be found in chain hobby stores.

Dharma Trading Co, sells a wide variety of fabric paints. The ones for screen printing and airbrush are not suitable for this. They also carry a neat package of ten 2 oz. spray bottles of a product for tie-dye. It looks perfect for this!

Dharma also carries a number of products for silk painting. Look for an upcoming post on thus later in the year.

Amazon has plenty of small, 2 oz., spray bottles. The clear ones are the best to use.

Tips

Spray paint your canvas before you begin to stitch.

The spray will go through the canvas, be sure to put paper behind your canvas before you spray.

If you want some areas not to be painted mask them with painter’s tape before spraying. Press down the edges firmly to minimize leaks.

In many cases paint will appear on the back of the canvas. While this will not affect your stitching, be careful where you put the canvas before it’s dry.

You can color your canvas with more than one color.

If holes are blocked, open them with a needle or toothpick.

If the spray area is too wide for your canvas, spray inside a box top or a personal spray booth.