DIY Glitter Linen

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Raise your hand if you love glitter!

Meee!!! I loooove glitter. Fierce. And I also love cross stitch. Combine the two and you get pure radness!

You can buy commercial glitter linen from sources like dovestitch.com but if you are like me and want the most glitter for your buck, try this!

Here's what you'll need:

  • Krylon Glitter Spray or Krylon Glitter Blast. I can only vouch for these two sprays, different brands may vary. I picked Glitter Blast in Diamond Dust & Glitter Spray in a Multicolor. The multicolor has bits of red, blue, silver, gold and green. I went with Krylon because these are acid free. I purchased these at Michael's with a coupon. The small can is $5.99 and the large is $7.99 without a coupon. You could get a LOT of glitter linen out of each can. And they had a ton of colors, gold, silver, pink, green, etc.
  • Linen Scraps. Please try this project on scraps first, I'd hate for you to buy expensive linen and have it not work out!.
  • Either newspaper or paper bags. Or your front steps. Just a place to spray your fabric outside.

 

You really want to work on this project outside, it's spray paint and it stinks.

I simply laid down my fabric and using even strokes, covered the fabric with the spray paint. Easy right?

Here are a few tips:

  • Let the fabric sit 24-48 hrs before you try to stitch on it. Not because it's wet but because the fumes are crazy.
  • The fabric will be SUPER stiff. I found I liked it, but if you don't want super stiff fabric, you probably don't want to try this project.
  • I completed an entire project with minimal glitter shedding. Occasionally I'd look down and see a piece of glitter or two on my hands but it didn't fall everywhere.
  • The fibers of the linen can be stuck together, meaning it's a little easy to miscount but a few stitches in I figured it out.
  •  It WILL darken your fabric considerably. In the photo of the spray paint cans, the linen on the left has been glittered, the right hasn't.

 

Here in this photo shows the original linen rolled up and then the glittered linens below it! Exact same one, Charles Craft Irish Linen Tea Dyed! See how light it is compared to the glittered ones?! Neat!

Look how awesome glitter floss looks with glitter linen?! This is Cosmo's White (silver!) and it's super dreamy looking. I'm working on a project today with this sparkle floss and I can't wait!

See how nice the stitches pop?! This has been ironed on low with a dish towel between the iron and the linen. It is FLAT. Crisp even! Imagine the cutest bookmark ever and this could be it. Sometimes my regular projects I have to starch in order to get the crinkles out but this fabric is so stiff that the crinkles just fell out. Amazing!

Anyways, I hope you give it a try! Ashleigh & I will be releasing a line of brand new Valentine's Day patterns on Friday, if you haven't had a chance get, come visit us on facebook! We aren't spammy (that's just not our nature!), we share tips & tricks and post photos of things other folks have made from our patterns :)