Treasure Chest Tutorial Part 3: Coloring Fabric

This post will show how I colored white fabric for the treasure chest fabric postcards. I used the same colors for the crazy quilt option and the mixed media option.

I used a box of Crayola crayons with 96 colors. However, you really only need white, brown, and blue.

Click on any photo for a larger view.

If you missed the first steps for this tutorial, I have provided links at the end of this post.

1) Color the entire piece white.  
I colored the treasure chest first (as seen in this photo) and then colored the rest of the piece. The lines of your drawing do not look as crisp when you color over them, but it will look better after the color is heat set.

Note: Sometimes when I am coloring, the freezer paper begins to separate from the fabric. I find that holding the piece as seen in this photo and coloring in the small section between my finger and my thumb makes this less of a problem.

2. Color the sand.
If your freezer paper is not as secure after you color the fabric white, you may skip to step 5 below and then return to this step. It will heat set the white and also secure the freezer paper to the fabric again.

First, I tested the colors on a scrap of the white fabric. I selected a light shade to use for the sand and 3 shades I felt went well together for the treasure chest.

The sand was colored with "tumbleweed" for this postcard. 

If you only have one basic brown crayon, color the sand in as lightly as possible.

3. Color the treasure chest. 
If using a basic brown, begin coloring your treasure chest in lightly and then color areas in a bit darker to add shadows and detail.

First, I filled the entire treasure chest in with the "raw sienna" crayon.

Next, I used "copper" to color in the metal lock.

Then, I used "sepia" to color around the edges of the treasure chest. I also colored in a bit along the bottom edges of the boards.

Finally, using "brown" I colored in a bit more around some of the corners of the treasure chest and made some faint lines to give an indication of the grain of the wood on the boards. You could also darken the area inside the treasure chest, as it would have the most shadows. I do not plan to leave much (if any) of that visible, so I did not darken that area on my blocks. However, the inside of the lid would be more shadowed...

4. Color the ocean water. 
This may be done with one shade of blue. Color the water in lighter near the top of the block, where light would be hitting the water, and darker near the treasure chest. 
NOTE: If you are making the crazy quilted postcard, find blue crayons that go well with the blue fabrics you are using. (I wish I had done this!)

I used two shades of blue.
First, "blue green" was used around the edges of the treasure chest and along the sandy bottom. I left some blank areas to fill in with the lighter shade of blue.

Then "turquoise blue" filled in the water.





5. Heat set the piece to melt out the wax and set the color in the fabric.

First, place your paper bag on your ironing board. IMPORTANT: be sure there are no glued sections on your paper bag (on the handles or the seams), as these may make a mess when you iron over your fabric. 

Second, place a paper towel (I use a double layer) on the paper bag. (As seen in the photo above.)

Third, place your colored fabric on the paper towel so the colored side is down on the paper towel and the freezer paper is on top.

Heat your iron to a dry (no steam) cotton setting. 

Press the freezer paper. This melts the wax out of the fabric and into the paper towel. The paper bag protects your ironing board if the wax goes through the paper towels.
NOTE: the iron may move quickly over the freezer paper, so be careful.

Check the paper towel. If colors have ironed onto it, replace the paper towel and press again. Repeat this process until no color transfers to the paper towel.

If you feel any sections are too light, you may color over those areas again and then repeat this step to set the color.

Once you finish this step, you may remove the freezer paper from the back of your fabric. 

You are now ready to prepare the postcard for embellishment!


As stated in a previous post, I learned to color fabric by combining information from the following tutorials. I am not affiliated with their websites.
QuiltingBoard.com
Urban Threads
Knot-y Girl's Stitchery Club

Related blog posts for this tutorial:
Treasure Chest Sketch
Treasure Chest Postcard Tutorial Part 1: Gathering Supplies
Treasure Chest Postcard Tutorial Part 2: Design Transfer