Falling Shamrock Tea Towel

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It’s March! Spring is here in for us in Arizona and just around the corner for the rest of you. As a child back in Oregon, I used to spend hours hunting for the elusive four-leafed clover with my grandmother. I guess because of that shamrocks are rather special to me. My kitchen needed a little green, so I made this shamrock tea towel using DecoArt’s Ink Effects, which is a fabric transfer ink that you can paint on to plain paper and then iron on to fabric. Fun, huh?

Now, Ink Effects is meant to be used on fabric that is less than 30% cotton for a more saturated transfer, but the towels that I used are 100% cotton and gave me this watercolor effect that I love.

Supplies: DecoArt Ink Effects in green, teal and blue, Ink Effects Base Coat, paint brush, plain copy paper, cotton dish towel (here), shamrock template or stencil, iron.

Start by tracing or stenciling the shamrocks. I just traced around these felt ones that I bought. I traced lots and lots of different sizes. I also did an image search and traced some shamrocks right off of the computer screen. I guess I could have just printed them, silly me.

Once you have quite a few shamrocks it’s time to start painting. The color of the paint appears really dark on the paper, but don’t worry, it will match the color of the cap of the paint. I promise.

I painted the clovers in a thin layer of paint, then let them dry for an hour. I used way more green than teal or blue.

Once the paint is dry, spray the towel with the Ink Effects Base Coat. The Base Coat helps the ink transfer better to fabrics that are less than 40% synthetic material. Let the Base Coat dry for a few minutes while the iron is heating up. Heat up the iron to the hottest non-steam setting it has. I found a little travel iron that has a switch to turn off the steam and still be on a cotton setting. Between that function and its little size, it worked perfect for this project.

Cut around a shamrock or two, and lay the paper painted side down on the towel. Place a blank piece of paper on top of that and start ironing. The transfer needs about 3 minutes of heat from the iron. Make sure that the steam is off and to move the iron around so that you get an even transfer.

Take off that shamrock and iron on another. I used some of the shamrock transfers more than once to get a lighter transfer. The effect looks like watercolor and I love the blues and the greens.

I read that on cotton the colors will fade a bit in the wash, even with the Base Coat. So I hand washed it in cool water and it faded very slightly. Yay!

If you look closely, there’s a lucky four-leafed clover in there for you!

Bye for now!

Jessa