Découpage Like You Have Never Seen Before
by Julie McDowell - Design Artist
June 29th, 2023 4:37 AM
My thanks to Painting Lady Designs for sponsoring this post, all opinions are my own.
Découpage is a centuries old art of decorating that can take an item from dull to sublime.
Many of us love to découpage small items, jewellery boxes, vases, dishes etc with excellent results.
BUT
Do you struggle when you découpage bigger items using larger sheets of paper? Do you have to deal with ripped papers and wrinkles galore?
If so, prepare to be amazed!
I am going to start with this telephone table or gossip bench.
As you can see it is in need of a makeover.
The first thing to do is clean it really well, scuff sand and then paint the whole thing.
I used a black acrylic furniture paint and painted the wooden parts and also the seat cover I will do the legs and metal poles last.
Now I am ready to découpage!
I am using a paper that is one of my own paintings available at Painting Lady Designs.
It is called 'Down to the Woods' and is available in 18 x 24 inches.
I am going to use 100% COTTON FUSIBLE INTERFACING also available from Painting Lady Designs.
It is what dressmakers use, it has a fine white fabric on one side and a layer of adhesive on the other.
I make a sandwich as follows:
- Cut a piece of interfacing to fit the découpage paper
- Place the interfacing adhesive side up.
-
Then lay the paper printed side up over the interfacing
- Cover this with parchment paper - also available from Painting Lady Designs
Use a hot DRY iron and keep the iron moving at all times.
The glue on the interfacing will melt very quickly and adhere it to the paper.
You now have PAPER FABRIC!
MAGIC!!
This is so much easier to work with and is perfect to use on chair seats and larger surfaces as it gives extra strength.
Here is how it looks with the interfacing attached.
After trimming away the white edges on the paper and any excess interfacing, I measure what is needed for the seat and cut.
Now using a water based polycrylic (any brand of clear coat will work, you need something stronger than mod podge etc)
Lay down a liberal layer on the chair seat and lay the PAPER FABRIC on top, smoothing it from the middle out.
You will find this so much easier to manipulate and no wrinkles at all.
Apply one coat of polycrylic on top of the paper.
When dry, apply a 2nd coat to the surface.
Apply clear coat liberally
I was planning to use the same PAPER FABRIC on the table but decided less was more! I did stick some down and let me tell you it fought me as I took it off. This sticks down really well!
I painted the legs and poles in gold metallic paint and here it is........doesn't it look smart?
I really hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and have been inspired by this new way to découpage.
My thanks to Tracy of Painting Lady Designs, I am thrilled to bits that you have my artwork in your store.
Here is the website. Over 200 designs to choose from
Now go and shop!
With love
Julie
❤️