Technique Tutorial-Perfect Pearls on Fabric.

PLEASE NOTE: Perfect Pearls are not permanent on fabric and are only suitable for art projects that will not be laundered.

I used Perfect Pearls on fabric for the first time on my fabric page for the SOCC Week Three Challenge. They are so simple to work with and blend beautifully. They give a gorgeous sparkle to fabric and adhere really well. Just follow these simple steps and you will have a lovely piece of glitzy fabric in no time.

I started with dry cotton fabric backed with some light weight iron on interfacing.

I am using Forever Red Perfect Pearls for my heart. Dip the soft brush that comes with the Pearls into the pot and add a generous amount to the fabric with a gentle pouncing action. Avoid sweeping the brush from side to side as you will dust the powder off the fabric surface. You will want to be generous with the Pearls but be sure to work it into the fabric weave not leaving loose piles of powder on the surface. 

To add some depth and shading I am using Blue Smoke Perfect Pearls around all the edges of the heart including the broken edge. Repeat the same process as for the heart centre but this time keep the brush only half on the edge of the heart. Some of the pearls will land on your work surface, just scoop it up with your brush and continue around the edge. As you can see, Perfect Pearls blend beautifully together.

The next step is to fill a Mini Mister with water and lightly but thoroughly spritz with water all over the Pearls. It is very important to use a Mini Mister as you need a really fine all over misted spray for this technique to work. Avoid flooding the Pearls. You will see the Pearls glisten as they come into contact with the water.

This photo of my backing fabric picks up the glisten a little. It is hard to photograph!

Now it is important to leave it to air dry. This will take some time depending on your climate. You can tell if it is dry simply by feeling it. When you touch the surface, if there are still loose particles of Pearls, you will need to spritz with more water and allow to dry.

You can leave the Pearls as they are, but I decided to over stamp the dry Pearls with the "Curly Background" stamp by Kaszazz and Fired Brick Distress Ink. I like the embossed look it gave to my heart.

I tried to capture the lovely sparkle of the Pearls but the photos really just don't do it justice.

So there you have it! A really simple technique but with stunning results.