How To Decoupage Terra Cotta Pots with Fabric

When I was a little girl, my older sister was really into mod podge and decoupaging.  She made me a beautiful wooden purse which she painted, decoupaged pictures, lined with felt, and added a handle.  I LOVED that purse.  Like so many things of the 70s, (like crazy bell bottom pants returning as stylish flares), decoupage  has gone from folksy to classy.

I've been so inspired by all the projects made from mod podge on pinterest.  It inspired me to decoupage a desk (see it here).  Okay, so I have done a modern piece with paper but I've been seeing people decoupage with fabric.  I really wanted to try this out.  Here's my first project.

My inspiration for this project came from, you guessed it, pinterest.  It is a project by Christine Chitnis (you can find her insructions here).  This is the picture I saw that made me say, "this is going to be my first fabric decoupage project).

Reading Christine's instructions, she cut her fabric in a large piece and I felt that I would find her technique cumbersome (and I don't do well with frustration when I'm doing a brand new technique). So, here's what I did.

How to Decoupage a Terra Cotta Pot with Fabric

This technique works with fabric that has a small all over print.  The first thing is to cut your fabric into 1 inch wide stripes 3-4 inches longer than the height of your pot.  Using a foam brush, paint Mod Podge onto your pot in a stripe wider than your fabric strip.

Lay your fabric strip over the Mod Podged area with 1-2 inches of fabric extending over both the top and bottom edges of your pot. Gently smooth out any air bubbles (your fabric does not adhere like paper....it will shift so use a gentle hand)

Moving around the pot, paint on more Mod Podge medium.  Then add your second strip so that it is about 3/4" away from the first strip at the top of your pot and you will see that it will then be much closer to the first strip at the bottom of your pot.

Repeat this process around your pot.

Before you continue your second time around to fill in your spaces, you want to adhere the strips on the bottom and the inside of the top of your pot.  Before you paint Mod Podge on the bottom of your pot to adhere these ends, cut them down, if necessary, so that they lay flat (see next picture).

 Continue a second time around so that your pot is covered entirely.

You will need to let your pot dry between coats of Mod Podge  (I put on 3 top coats to get a relatively smooth finish).  To keep your Mod Podge bottle from gluing shut, place a piece of plastic wrap on top of your bottle before putting your lid on.

Also, as with many decoupaged projects, it is recommended that you apply a coat of acrylic sealer. I used Polycrylic by Minwax.

Here you have the finished product!  With the small all over print, the strips are not noticeable.

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