"Stained by Sharpie" fabric markers | How About Orange

October 12, 2011

"Stained by Sharpie" fabric markers

Sharpie is promoting their stuff and sent over a box of goodies, including the newish Stained by Sharpie fabric markers. These have brush tips so you can make very fine lines or use the side of the pen for slightly broader strokes. They're definitely best for small areas, not large fields of color.

I tested them on a tiny drawstring bag I found in the closet. The colors didn't bleed on the muslin (just make sure the light colors are completely dry before drawing the black on top). Cute, right? You could cover a whole piece of fabric with tiny designs.

The markers did bleed a bit on the 7 oz. cotton canvas I used for this zipper-zipper pouch. I learned from testing on some scraps that colored areas will likely look scribbly, so on this pouch I went with it. (Click to see it bigger.) If you're looking for perfectly even coverage, this probably isn't your product. Colors can be layered, which will get you a darker, more vibrant look, but your drawing will still appear a bit sketchy. Good for free spirits. Bad for repressed, control-freak designers who like crisp, graphic shapes (um... me). But fun to test! Full disclosure: I was too lazy to illustrate my own zipper, so I Googled "zipper diagrams" and copied one.

Something that's not revealed on the package is that the yellow, orange and pink markers are neon like highlighters—I wish my photos captured that better. The other colors are normal. I haven't tried washing anything yet, but the package states that ink resists fading on most fabrics during normal wash cycles.

39 comments:

CoolCrafting said...

These would be great to do some trompe d'oeil with on garments - I like your zipper drawing you could draw zippers and buttons onto pockets etc.

Grandma G said...

Oh, so pretty! They'd be lotsa fun to play with. MissC'd get a kick outta that zipper-zipper pouch.

Mum

Anonymous said...

very cool product!

Jessica Jones said...

CoolCrafting: You read my mind! Have you seen this shirt???

Jessica Jones said...

Whoops, let's try this link instead.

Alexa said...

Judging from the Sharpie stains my kids have on their clothing, and using them to write names on clothing, I would guess these will not fade much in the wash.

Niki said...

i need these

manda said...

I want some!!!

Shocking Hocking said...

defo looking out for these - what fun!

Meg said...

These sound great! I was looking for a fabric paint my preschoolers could use for a Thanksgiving craft, and I think these will work great!

Meags Keogh said...

Cheap t-shirts for kids, packet of markers and you have an instant party with terrific results. I love the "sketched" look they give.

Justin and Amanda said...

YOUR FABRIC IS IN THE LATEST NOV. REAL SIMPLE!! on a lamp shade i think page 157!! very exciting

Erin said...

These are awesome...thanks for letting us know about them!

Michele said...

Ooh, I want some! Your projects turned out so cute.

Jessica Jones said...

Real Simple?!?!?! Woo hoo! I have to go find one immediately!

snickerdoodleloves said...

I *must* have these! Where, oh where, can I find them?

tinajo said...

Oooh - I´d love those but I guess I won´t find them in Sweden. Maybe I can find them the next time I go to the States. :-)

Liz said...

I love the little bag you've done!

CoolCrafting said...

Ha, you will beat me to it because you have the markers - not sure if they are in the UK yet. Do let us know what you do, I'm sure it will be amazing x

Tara said...

That striped shirt you provided the link for is awesome! Just pinned it

Rachel said...

Yet one more reason to be obsessed with sharpies...

jenni said...

Oh, Sharpie, you've done it again. I love you.

Anonymous said...

Oh, wow!! I need to try these!! Are they in stores now, or are they just testing them??

Jessica Jones said...

Yep, they're in stores. Or Amazon.

Nicole said...

Oh man! I've been looking for something to make hand-drawn iron-on canvas patches for my Etsy store. Silkscreen ink thinned down and painted with a brush looks amazing but is too time consuming to be worth it and most of the fabric pens I've tried have a terrible quality of line. Thanks--I'm going to try these this weekend!

TexaGermaFinlaNadian said...

What a great idea! Love these, so easy. Congrats on the BON!

De Zuster Van said...

Lucky you! I wish Sharpie send me some of their stuff! I've heard so many good things about their products, but they are not for sale here in Belgium :(
Again, these fabric markers look awesome!

Miki said...

Oh, my! What an amazing idea! :D

Hope you have a nice weekend! ;)

Miki.

Anonymous said...

Are they opaque on dark fabrics??

marikit said...

So cool!

MammaRachel said...

those look cool. Wonder if I'll every find them in stores.

Unknown said...

Wow these ideas are so nice I never thought about using markers like that. Admittedly I have never seen sharpies with such vibrant colors. Maybe they are usually sold out. Awesome designs.

Unknown said...

I've got to say I'm not surprised about that, since Sharpie seems to be like the trendy marker to go for, with a nice design, but the actual quality isn't amazing (this is what I have learnt from their normal markers anyway).

Jessica Jones said...

Anonymous, nope—they wouldn't be opaque on dark fabrics. Think of these as more of a stain or dye, than an opaque paint.

Catherine said...

These are great, I can't wait to try them too. Your projects look awesome

able mabel said...

I love how you demo products for us, complete with the pros and cons. Helpes me a ton when deciding what to purchase!

JAMIE SAYS DREAM said...

Such fun, and there's neon colours :-) I really like what you made with them!

Unknown said...

I used these on some canvas shoes realy nice strong colours but they dident last long they would be better if you could buy refills

Unknown said...

I used these on some canvas shoes realy nice strong colours but they dident last long they would be better if you could buy refills