Dyeing our t-shirts with Chalk Paint

October has become synonymous with the colour pink, thanks to the inspirational and successful campaign run by Breast Cancer Awareness who have urged us to Wear It Pink on October 23rd. We wanted to show our support here at HQ, and I realised that this would be a great opportunity to ‘dye’ our own t-shirts with my paint, Chalk Paint®. I’ve used Scandinavian Pink (predominantly) to customise a wonderful old piano stool and a chair and these will be on sale in my shop on Cowley Road, Oxford (from Monday) with all proceeds going to Breast Cancer Care.

If you haven’t yet tried using Chalk Paint® to colour fabric, do. It’s simple and really straightforward – you just need cold water and Paint – no fixatives or salt, no faffing around.


Pour your Paint into an old tub – I use metal, but you can use plastic although you’ll need to take care to clean it out afterwards. When I’m in my house in Normandy, I do this outside so that any spills won’t matter, but do be careful otherwise.


















Add the water, and mix gently but thoroughly. You’re looking for a ratio of around one part paint, to 20 parts water but, of course, you can play around with this for more or less intense gradations of colour!

Now, add your fabric and make sure it is fully immersed.
Leave it to soak for around half an hour.

The fabric will need to be fully dry before you use it but once dry, you can machine wash as normal.

Natural fabrics (linen, cotton, silk) always work best when you are dyeing material, no matter what you use to colour them. Polyester mixes, and other synthetics may not take the ‘dye’ so well. In my book, Colour Recipes, I describe dying old linen sheets in Aubusson Blue and found that the rustic effect of colouring them by using Chalk Paint® enhanced the natural texture of the fabric in a rather fabulous way. Here in Oxford, where I’m based, we’ve experimented with many different types of fabric, including some rather traditional lace panels which were given a contemporary twist by transforming them with colour.

And here they are, the team (with a few missing) in their pink t-shirts!

Yours, Annie

Abigail & Ryan Bell's Shibori Tie-Dye Fabric

For their final project as Painters in Residence, the brilliant husband and wife design-duo, Abigail and Ryan Bell (of Abigail*Ryan), created this beautiful shibori dyed fabric – using my paint, Chalk Paint® as a dye!

The pair were inspired by Japanese Shibori, a tie-dying method which uses real indigo. They knew that my paint would be a great substitute for indigo – it is highly pigmented and works incredibly well as a dye.

Abigail and Ryan worked with three blues from the Chalk Paint® palette to make different dyes – Aubusson Blue, Greek Blue and Napoleonic Blue. They mixed each colour with water, using a rough ratio of 1 part paint to 20 parts water.

The couple folded their cotton fabric and secured the folds with rubber bands and clothes pegs as they went along. They then soaked the folded fabric in the dye mix for around 30 minutes. Once the colour had absorbed they rinsed the fabric throughly, un-tied it and left it to dry. (I would recommend leaving your fabric to drip dry outdoors or by a heater. Once dry, iron or tumble dry the fabric to seal the colour. Hand wash or wash the fabric on its own.)

The couple used the fabric to make gorgeous cushions, and to re-upholster the seat cushion of their Parker Knoll chair – which now looks fabulous with the wood painted in Napoleonic Blue too!

I hope you've enjoyed following Abigail & Ryan's projects as my Painters in Residence and have been inspired by their love of bright colours and design.

Yours, Annie

Follow Abigail and Ryan on Instagram, Facebook, and their website: www.abigailryan.com

And remember to follow #PaintersInResidence on Instagram and Facebook, as well as my Painters in Residence board on Pinterest.