Coloring Aida Cloth
Hi! I am stopping by to share something I used in this project: Coloring Aida Cloth.
Now, in case you don’t know, Aida cloth is the name for the fabric you use while cross-stitching.
Maybe I’m a little slow, but I have been cross-stitching for years and I just figured that out a few weeks ago.
Just to jog your memory, here is the project that I made with my colored Aida cloth:
Anyway, as any cross stitcher knows, Aida cloth does not come in very many colors.
I usually always work with 14 count Aida cloth and 14 counts Aida cloth generally only comes in white, cream and sometimes you can find navy.
That’s it.
Chances are you might be able to find a few more colors online, but even then it’s limited and it can be expensive.
If only there was a way to color Aida’s cloth…wait, there is! Β And it’s actually super easy!
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Aida Cloth–white
- Acrylic Paint (yup, just normal acrylic paint) in the color you wish to make the aida cloth
- Tint-able Fabric Medium. I used Martha Steward’s Tint-able Fabric Medium, found at Michael’s.
- Wide paint brush
For this project, I used gold acrylic paint to color my Aida cloth.
I really love how it turned out–it makes my Aida cloth look like glitter burlap.
And here’s how you color your Aida cloth:
- Mix tintable fabric medium and paint according to the directions on the bottom. Mine called for 2 parts paint to 1 part medium.
- Spread the mixture onto your aida cloth and allow to dry completely.
- Continue to follow the bottle’s direction for how to set the color. My product had me set the color with heat (I ironed it) and then wash it. Since this is aida cloth and easily unravels, I hand washed mine–and I was done!
Just a note, it’s okay for the paint to bleed through the fabric a little–this just means that the fabric is soaking up the paint.
This is what the back of my fabric looks like, not the prettiest, but that’s okay.
No one is going to see it!
I was amazed at how easy this was–and how the paint didn’t clog up any of the holes.
I tried this fully expecting to have it flop and to have waited for a piece of Aida cloth, but it didn’t and now I am happily stitching a series of cross stitch bride and grooms on them!
Here is a look at a few of the colors I have added to my Aida cloth recently:
All the best,
I wanted a light blue so my snowman would be easier to see to stitch and stand out more so I soaked the aida piece in water to which I had added several drops of blue food coloring. Worked great.
Thanks for your help! That’s exactly what I need!
Hi I was wondering if you can wash the cloth later if it gets dirty.
I love your dark blue Aida, would you happen to remember what color paint you used. Also, I noticed it looked a little mottled, how would you achieve that effect with using the paint. Thanks!!
I love this idea. Just went to a cross stitch store and they wanted over 30.00 dollars for a regular piece of dyed cloth. I think you just saved me 30.00. So thank you for posting this. Iβm sure going to give it a try.π
I want to try this but I always wash my stitching when done. Can you wash the colored fabric?
yup! The color will be permanent.
I just did the mailbox from a recent Country Living magazine, and it was done on beige/tan Aida. All I had was white, so I soaked the cloth in some strong tea and it came out a nice light beige. It’s going to be a Christmas ornament, so I’ll be sure to hang it away from the window side, in case it fades easily.
Smart. I was getting ready to dye some aida cloth myself (Rid) orange. Now I have a short cut. The acrylic paint is a heck of alot cheaper to than the normal dyes. Orange roll of aida was 30.00! I like your way MUCH better.
Thank u
Melanie
wonderful! I hope it works for you.
To stop your Aida unravelling overlock the edges. Thanks for sharing your colouring tip:)
and thanks for your tip! Always happy to learn more π
I;ve dyed aida,14ct,with just acrylic paint,water and a little textile medium thrown in.I made mine quite thin,then just painted it with a foam brush or whatever you have around.One of the tricks is to use a good quality paint,ceramcoat,folkart acrylics,martha stewart.Stay away from Apple Barrel paints as they don’t have enough pigment in them.
I’m a quilter and we painted our fabrics many times,i also am a tole painter.
What ever way you do it,you must heat set it either by ironing it,or in the dryer.Be sure to protect your ironing board
Awesome idea! I’ve thoughts of making bookmarks, but since I want different colours this is just great! But quick question, have you tried to colour both sides? Since the plan is to make bookmarks I would like for the Aida to be all covered in the same colour. Could I paint both sides at the same time and then wash or should I paint one at a time? The plan is to try this out myself but was curious to know if you might’ve already tried this out π
I haven’t tried it, but if you experiment with it, please let me know! When I did just one side, however, the paint did spread to the back quite a bit already. Happy Crafting!
I found that the fabric turned very stiff and not too great to work with. Not sure if it’s because of too much paint or because of paint on both sides. Does the fabric get hard when its painted on only one side as well?
it does. Try hand washing it and see if that helps.
EXCELLENT! Just what I needed to know. Need DARK pink and spent HOURS looking and none to be found.
Will definitely try this. By the way, does anybody have Maria Diaz’s baby girl announcement chart? It has a dress on a hanger with a border of flowers and room for name, weight, etc. PLUS the city where she was born at the bottom. I had to wait until she was born because we didn’t know if it was a girl or boy and now the chart’s gone. Seems I never can get Plan A for projects, which this would be. I’ve spent hours and hours looking at websites and cannot find it. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.
I’ll look around and see what I can find. Best of luck with the project and congrats on the baby girl!!!
I want to try this with some of my fabric, but I like to draw grids on mine with a water soluble marker and then wash it off later. Would this would on these painted cloths, or no?
Sure! Paint the cloth first, allow to dry fully and then draw on the lines.
ps–cool idea!
I found this tip through Pinterest and marked it instantly. I’ve been stitching for about 17 years. And I’ve had trouble finding the right aida color to make my stockings stand out. I’m loving your ideal and don’t find it hard to understand you can use whatever paint color you want. Just use the medium and color choice, wala or that you can use whatever stitch gauge your use too. I even plan to try this on a navy 14 count to make it more usable to me. Not all of us that cross stitch can run to the store to pick up what’s needed. When you live on a fixed income or out of a major town, you get what you can and look for sales.
Thank you very much for sharing this.
I’m so glad this was helpful! Happy Stitching!
Amen to that Mary’s. I’m on a fixed income also and have to be careful with every penny I spend. I have the paint and the 14 count Aida so I will be trying this. Haven’t used it cause I wanted a different color cloth. Thanks for sharing
This didn’t work for me at all, I used the same medium and everything π I ended up with rubbery Aida
and all the holes are clogged
that is so odd. My guess is that you put the paint on a little too thick. Also, what count aida cloth did you use?
I used 18 count cause I really don’t like 14 and you can buy all kinds of colors in 14 already, I may have put too much on but my back looked the same as the pics…
All I can say is that I have only done this with 14 count aida cloth. Maybe it doesn’t work with 18 count. So sorry about that. I will change the post to add this information.
Thanks for sharing! Do you think I could add polka dots on top of the layer of paint? Or would the first layer prevent the second from absorbing properly? Thanks!
That’s a really cool idea. I *think* it would work, but I have never tried it. I might have too! If you do give it a try, let me know what your results are!
Just bought the ingredients and I am very excited to try this. What exactly were your measurements? 2 tablespoons to 1 tablespoon, Or did you use more paint? I just want to make sure that I mix enough. thanks for your help and I cannot wait to see the outcome.
My measurements were far from exact. Yes, use a little more paint, but even if aren’t super precise, the project should still turn out. Good luck!
Thank you so much!
I see all these wonderful pattens on bright aida cloth, and was wondering how to get my hands on some!
Now I can just make it! π
Thank you again, and happy Stitching!
Yay! That is so great to hear! happy stitching yourself.
[…] Also, you might have noticed that my aida cloth (the material used for cross stitch) is gold colored. Β I added this color to my aida cloth myself, and it was really easy. Β For the details on how to add any color to aida cloth, GO HERE. […]
Lovely colours – I would mess things up if I were to try this. Luckily, there are many colourful aida available online nowadays… π My favourites are the marbled effects.
thanks for letting me know about this–and you really should try this method. It’s pretty fool-proof!