Personalizing Sequin Fabric With Paint Pens
I know ya’ll love mermaid sequin fabric as much as I do. I could seriously sit there and move the sequins back and forth all day long and be completely happy. 😉 We have a quick and super easy way to add some personalization to any reversible sequin fabric. You can find mermaid fabric at craft and fabric stores. We have also found multiple reversible sequin zippered pouches, pillows, stuffed animals etc. at the dollar store or other discount stores. These are perfect items to personalize.
All you need is an item made out of mermaid fabric that you’d like to personalize and an oil based paint pen. We like to use Sharpie Oil Based Paint Pens or the Posca Paint Pens. This paint pens by Artistro get great reviews as well. You can find them at different craft stores and on Amazon.
Choose a color of paint pen that is different than reverse of your sequins. For example, when we flip over the green sequins, you see black sequins. You will be writing on the reverse side of the sequins so choose a color that will show up nicely on that side. If your sequin fabric has lighter colors, stick with a lighter color paint pen. Then there is less of a chance that the paint pen color will show through to the other side.
Flip all of the sequins over to the side that you will be personalizing.
Adding The Personalization
To add the personalization, start applying your paint pen to the sequins using short strokes moving in the same direction as the sequins (from the part of the sequin that is attached to the fabric toward the top of the sequin). Slowly work your way around to create the image or letter that you’re adding to the fabric. Create curves using same motions from bottom to top of sequin. Stick to larger images or thick block letters. Some of the sequins move around a bit over time so it will be easier to read if you stick with larger images or fonts.
When you’re done “painting” let it dry completely. Resist the urge to test it out until the paint has dried since it will transfer to the other sequins and mess up your image that you’ve drawn. Gently press your finger on top of the sequins you’ve painted to check to see if it’s dried before flipping the sequins.
If you need a second coat, apply then let it dry again completely. You’re all done! Happy crafting my friends!!
Can it be done on both side so that the image is still seen the sequins are flipped?
Hey! We were able to do images on both sides, but you need to make sure that the first side has completely dried before flipping the sequins and starting the image on the other side. We weren’t patient enough in one of our attempts and flipped the sequins before the sharpie had dried completely and it transferred to some of the surrounding sequins. Good luck!!
Thanks for helping me understand that we should choose light-colored pens when the sequins are light as well. As you mentioned, this is to keep it from showing on the other side. I will keep that in mind since I will be buying sequin fabrics that I will customize to give as a souvenir for the baptism event of our daughter.