Commission–Tablecloth

This week I have started a fabric painted tablecloth. It’s a commission from a lady who wants me to make it for a friend’s birthday in October. I thought I’d blog the progress.
The lady had seen some of my previous textile work of this waistcoat that I made a few years ago for a Quilting Arts Magazine project. She liked the flowering gums and as her friend has a nickname of ‘Gumnut’ it seemed a good idea for a painted table cloth of flowering gums and gumnuts as a gift.
                                 

Firstly I did some tests on different fabrics, the first a thick cotton woven fabric and the second a plain white cotton. I heat set the fabrics after painting and put them through the washing machine to test for colourfastness.
                         
I liked the cream colour of the first fabric but it was difficult to paint on because of the raised weave. The white cotton was easier to paint but the colour is too stark. i decided to shop for a plain cotton cream colour.