I had so much making these fabric resist art pillows with my girls. Fabric resist art can also be called gel glue batik. This art project was a collaborative effort since my girls are only toddlers. I think the ideal age for a resist art project like this would be 7 and up. You can skip the pillow making part all together and just create fabric art if you want. We made the “I Love My Dada” pillow for Father’s Day last year and my husband absolutely loves it. This easy art project for kids is part of an art series I’m doing with a bunch of other super talented art and craft bloggers. You can check out their resist art projects by clicking on the links below. Last month we experimented with watercolors. We made Spring watercolor paper flowers. I’m loving this series!
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The first step is super simple and great for any age. This is the part my girls helped with. For the big pillow, they spread Elmer’s Gel Glue
Once the glue was totally dry I painted fabric paint
After adding all the fabric paint, I let it dry for another 24 hours. I love projects that happen over time, especially when we’re so used to immediate gratification all the time. Worthwhile art experiences are often a longer process. I love showing that to my kids. Once the fabric was totally dry I popped it into a super hot wash in the laundry machine. The heat from the water melts the gel glue and you get this awesome effect on the fabric. Isn’t it cool?!
My last step was sewing the fabric into a pillow. Like I said before, you could definitely skip this part but I wanted this fabric to live so a pillow seemed like a great option. We had made the “I Love Dada” pillow using the same technique last year for fathers day and my whole family loves it! So if you want to take this next step, I encourage you to go for it. Just cut the size you want from the fabric and cut a plain piece of the fabric the same size for the back. Place both squares on top of each other pattern facing in. Sew about an inch along each side connecting all the edges except one. Turn the fabric inside out and stuff the pillow with a pillow insert or batting. Last, turn in the edges of the remaining edge and sew it together. I know these aren’t the best directions but there are about a million tutorials for pillow making on youtube. You can try this one if you need a little extra guidance.
We love our new resist art pillows! To see more awesome resist art ideas, check out some of my favorite bloggers.
Tape Resist Art on Foil from Learn Play Imagine
Wax Paper Resist from Housing a Forest
Splatter Paint Tape Resist from Buggy and Buddy
Watercolor Resist Easter Egg Garland from Fun at Home with Kids
Clay Resist by Babble Dabble Do
Resist Art Project: Andy Warhol by Art History Mom
Watercolor Resist Envelopes by Willowday
Resist Art Stepping Stones by Twodaloo
Cracked Wax Resist Art by BlogMeMom
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http://somethingforlilah.wordpress.com/2014/03/10/blog-leibster-award/
Wow. Thank you so much. That was so nice of you!! Looking forward to checking out your blog!
Fantastic idea! I love the pattern and colour of your project! 🙂
Thank you so much!! I have a weakness for a red/pink/yellow/orange combo! : )
Oh Meri, these are so stinking cute!! Love, love, love them
Thank you Stacy!!! Big crafty mama hug coming your way!
These are amazing! What a beautiful project, and I love the way you incorporated the kids.
Thanks Allison! I’m so excited about them!
I love these. Perfect for Spring because they seem so bright!
Thanks Kaci! They are really happy in person : )
Oh my I’m in love with this! I completely agree with the idea of introducing longer process projects to children. Most art is made over time so this is a wonderful lesson. The pillow are really cool and I love the puffy paint addition. Bravo!
Thanks Ana! This was a really fun one!
What a great project and the pillows turned out beautiful!! I have one question, when you say put it in the washing machine and the glue will melt, won’t that glue mess up the machine?
Hi Maria, good question! I’ve done this a few times and never had a problem with my machine. I don’t think it’s enough glue to do any damage. It just kind of melts away as far as I know. But I guess try it at your own risk. Ahh. So sorry if anything happens! If you want, you can soak the fabric in a hot water bucket first, that should get most of the glue off first if you’re worried. Good luck!
How COOL is this?? Love, love, love 😉
Thanks Steph!! xo
Ok we are sooo doing this project! Just for a tshirt or piece of LOs clothing though lol. We made potatoe stamped shorts & tanks last year with regular acrylics and LO was SOO proud to wear them for her school friends! This is a fab follow up at her age now. Thank you for sharing. I’m totally loving all of the projects you and the fab moms are sharing! SOO much inspiration! 😀
Thank you! If you try it for clothing, I just learned that soaking the material in a little water with vinegar helps soften it up. Have fun!
What type of fabric did you use?
Can you use regular acyrlic paint?
Hi! We used a regular canvas material. It worked really well. I think acrylic would work just as well. Have fun!
Love this project, Meri! It’s simply gorgeous! And YES!!! What IS it about those Elmers gel glue bottles. I picked up about a dozen when they were on sale, and I’m the only one who can get anything out of them, and even at that, I totally strain my hand trying to do so!
It’s amazing to me that this problem hasn’t been solved yet! Anyway, thanks Jackie!!
Quick question. Do you think this would work on a plain white cotton pillow case? Love all your ideas and have done a lot with my LO!
Yes! Absolutely. I have made a lot of cotton tshirts this way and it’s worked really well. You may want to soak the tees in hot water for a while before throwing them in the wash. Please let me know how it goes!
This project looks great. Question about the fabric…is it heavy weight? Could I just buy a canvas drop cloth?
Hi Jessica. Thanks! I think that would work. This canvas isn’t quite that thick so it’s a little easier to work with. You’d have to give it a try. I can’t think of a reason it would work though. Good luck!
What a great project! I bought all the supplies and we are going to do this for Father’s Day. I have a couple questions. Do you wash the fabric before you start the project or just when it’s all painted? And 2nd, did you just use regular cotton fabric for the back of the pillow? Thank you for inspiring us to do something different for Father’s Day! The girls are going to have so much fun creating this!
Yay! That’s great! I didn’t wash the fabric prior. I don’t know if that would make a difference. I don’t think so? For the back of the pillow I used the same canvas that I used for the front. Just remember, you have to let the glue dry for 24 hours so this is a two part process. Have fun!!! Please let me know how it goes and Happy Father’s Day!
Awesome! Thanks for the tips and I’ll let you know how they turn out!
I don’t sew. Do you think I could just paint/glue it directly onto a pillow form?
Absolutely! You can glue gun a pillow together too if you want. Definitely don’t let the sewing stop you. You can make a wall hanging too or banner. Hope that helps!
Thanks!
What a wonderful idea! I’ve always loved how resist painting looks, and this is such a great kid-friendly spin on it! My kids would LOVE doing this! 🙂 Lisa
Thanks Lisa! It’s really fun. You can do someone things this way. Hope you give it a try with your kids.
When you painted the pillow after glue did you paint all of the pillow or leave areas of fabric showing through?
I painted the whole pillow. The glue resists the paint. So the areas that have no paint had glue under them. Hope that helps. Let me know!
Hi! I am doing this project with my kids and don’t have gel glue. Can I use regular Elmer’s?? Thank you!
Hi Lauren, From everything I’ve read, you need gel glue. I’m not totally sure why. But maybe you can? I’ve never tried. I’m sorry! I wish I was more helpful. Let me know how it goes and good luck!
By accident, I used regular Elmer’s glue and not the gel. Will it still come out the same? Do I still put it in the hot wash/dryer?
Thanks for your help,
I’m so disappointed in this😒. I did everything she said-canvas, gel glue, fabric paint. My grandkids worked so hard on writing their names and handprints, hearts,etc. Nothing showed up except the 😟
Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear this Sandra. And I’m sorry I didn’t see this message sooner. I’m not sure where things went wrong. Maybe the glue brand that you used? If you want to email me directly I can try and help. I’m so sorry to hear your grandkids were so disappointed. It’s a big bummer when things like that happen. I’ve been there. my email if you want – meri@mericherry.com
When you did the pillow. Did you write the word’s on the front of the fabric, or backwards. Then painted the color around the word’s.
hi
We live in Australia and don’t have the glue you used
Would any no run glue be just as good
Thanks
Hi Erica. We did it on the front and then painted right over it. Good luck! Let me know if you have any other questions.
Hi there and thanks for reading along. Do you have rubber cement? That may work though I’m not sure. Or any clear glue. For some reason I don’t think white glue works but I haven’t tried it. Wish I could be more helpful!