Denim and Paint for an Upgrade

By Rachel Scarlett

Good Day! This last weekend I used a medium that I love and is therapeutic for me- paint. It doesn't really matter what I do with paint, it's always picks me up and clears my head. In this particular project I used paint on some old material to upgrade my living room bench/stool to something that fit it's surroundings.  

In recovering this bench, I must say that my methods may not always be correct. When I want to accomplish something I usually just go for it without researching the how-to's. If I tried to do everything perfect- I would accomplish nothing. I would never create if my results had to be exact. I have found that I learn more by just going for it on 10 projects in the amount of time that it would take me to do a single one perfectly. That being said, I both paint fabric and use it to reupholster in this project and I really don't have experience with either. SO my tutorial is going to skip over some spots.

I knew I wanted to recover the bench below. I had already recovered it once with this hot pink fabric while I was in college; before that it had been white- and a little dingy as it was a hand-me-down. The pink worked to bring some color to my apartment but it was not so great in the married life ;). I believe it used to belong to a vanity set a long time ago...

To properly do this, I'm sure if you google 'reupholstering' you'll find some helpful videos. There are usually screws holding on the top, I unscrewed them to detach the top which is a board covered in padding and fabric. I forgot to get a picture but I actually never took off the original padding and cover, it was easier for me to just recover and staple over the original (like I said- not perfect).

I traced the rectangle of the board on my denim and to get enough fabric I cut 2 to 3 inches beyond that, all the way around. I used the old pink cover to make sure I had enough.

This denim was given to me at a fashion show when I was in 4-H. I won it for my sewing project that year, a whopping 6 yards of it. I was probably around 11 years old and for one who's attracted to color, it was so not exciting for me (oh cool, a washed out piece of denim... that will come in handy NEVER). Well let me tell you folks, it has come in handy. I knew it would work well for this project because of it's durability and neutral-ish color. I thought I could also paint it to get a pattern that would work best for me. 

The inspiration for my pattern came from my living room blanket (above). As you may have read before, I love southwestern art including the Native American designs. I have shown this when I made Thanksgiving votives and in my painting on the wall of Anne's nursery. I decided to replicate part of the pattern on my blanket. That way I can still have a fun pattern, but it won't compete with the blanket.

To get started I drew out the lines with a pencil on the denim using a yardstick and used a stencil brush. This brush is a little firmer and will let me work the paint into the fabric. I used acrylic paint. If you don't have a brush like this they are cheap, but I'm sure another kind could work as well. 

Fabric can take up a lot of paint because it's absorbent, so every time I reloaded the brush with paint, I slightly dipped the tip in water to help the paint go farther. Making the paint slightly thinner with the water and not having such a thick layer of paint should also be good for durability - it will be more sunk into the fabric and won't just chip off. I also love that it gave the paint a watercolor look. To keep the paint in the lines, I used a piece of cardboard to paint up against. Make sure you use hardly any water, too much will bleed.

Once I painted all the stripes, I started working on the overlaid design. While painting this part, I just used a normal brush and didn't add water. I made sure the paint wasn't applied too thick. Using wax paper, I cut out some shapes to work as stencils.

Once I was done painting I stapled the piece on the board and replaced the screws.

And just like that, you've got yourself a new and interesting piece that accents the living room. Not too shabby.

Because our living room is a little too small for a coffee table or an end table, this little bench works great to move around to where we need it. Whether we play cards, put our feet up, need a place to set our popcorn, or even need an extra seat, we use this bench ALL the time. It can also be tucked away in the corner if we need more space (this usually happens when one of my daughter's contraptions is out). I believe the paint will hold up well also. I have heard acrylic paint described as 'liquid plastic' so I don't think it will wear off and if we spill anything on it the stain should wipe off fairly easily, and soap won't take off the paint. If it doesn't hold up I'll just have another fun project in the future!

Thanks for reading!