We are going to talk about fabric crafts which really fits under the category about fiber arts.

Fiber arts includes anything that has fiber in it which means material, yarn, ribbon etc.

I started creating this activity for a youTube video and I had intended on using the store bought material seen below to create some fabric crafts. I then found these painted pieces of material I had done when I was into quilting a few years ago.

I also found solid pieces of material so I decided to make this post about how to change (paint) the material and to use that and/or to embroider some material as well.

I took a piece of white material and cut it into four pieces and I decided I would show you how to make each piece look different with different materials.

For the first piece I used liquid watercolors.

You don't need a lot of the watercolors as you are going to dilute it with water. Be careful that you don't overdilute it because then the color isn't strong enough.

I've used this technique with paper towels and that is truly magical because as soon as you touch the brush tip full of watercolors to the paper towel it spreads beautifully.

In this case, on the white cotton material you kind of need to paint it on. After it is wet and you want to add more color to different parts then it spread really nicely.

For the next three pieces I used two colors of blue paint and I just used a piece of cardboard to put the paint on.

The first method is to use random household material to print with. You can either paint the bottom of the material to print or you can dip it into the paint and then print.

For the second material I used an assortment of homemade and store bought stamps and for the third one I used a stencil.

For the stencil I used a piece of sponge to get the color through the stencil. 

Once the kids have changed their pieces of material and they are dry they can use them to make stuffies of pillows by sewing them together and then stuffing them.

One of the things I have done with my classes when I was an elementary school art teacher when we were doing fiber arts was embroidery.

I would use felt pieces as shown here and before they were allowed to sew them together they had to draw on the felt and then embroider it.

Only then were they allowed to make it into a stuffie or a pillow.

If the children do not want to draw their own pictures then you can use simple stencils for them to copy.

I use erasable fabric pens because then they can wash off the marker after they finish their embroidery.

Here are a few samples of some pillows and stuffies some kids have created. As they get more experience with this sometimes they choose to cut out pieces to fit an idea they have.