How to Print on Fabric with Lino: A Beginner's Guide

Turn your lino block into a handmade tote bag, tea towel or fabric patch with this simple next step in your printmaking journey.

If you've already carved your first lino block, printing onto fabric is a brilliant way to give your design a new life. Whether you're decorating a tote bag, making a set of tea towels or creating your own fabric patches, lino printing lets you transform everyday textiles into something uniquely yours.

In our previous tutorial, Max Black showed us how to make a lino print, from transferring your design to carving and printing on paper. The process for fabric is very similar, but there are a few key differences that will help you get cleaner, longer-lasting results.

In this tutorial, Max shares his favourite tips for printing on fabric using Pébéo Setacolor Fabric Paint and a soft carving block.

• Easy Cut Lino (or another soft carving block)
• Printed design
• Soft pencil (or Transfer Medium if following the previous tutorial)
• V-shaped lino cutting tool
• Craft knife (X-Acto or similar)
• Water-based fabric paint (such as Pébéo Setacolor)
• Small sponge
• Brayer (optional, if using printmaking ink instead of fabric paint)
• Cotton or canvas fabric (tote bag, tea towel or similar)
• Scrap card or paper (to place inside the fabric while printing)
• Iron (for heat setting the fabric paint)

If you've already completed our paper printing tutorial, you'll notice one major change straight away.

For printing on fabric, Max recommends using a soft carving block rather than professional grey lino.

Although traditional lino holds incredibly fine detail, fabric has a textured woven surface that can make those tiny details difficult to print cleanly. Soft block compresses slightly as you print, making it much easier to achieve bold, even impressions on canvas and cotton fabrics.

Print your design and trace over all of the lines with a soft pencil.

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Flip the design over onto your soft block.

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Rub firmly over the back of the paper using your fingers or a burnishing tool until all the graphite transfers.

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Lift the paper to reveal your transferred line drawing.

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Unlike the transfer medium method, only the pencil lines transfer to the block. This means you'll want to keep your original reference image nearby while carving so you always know which areas should be removed.

The carving process is very similar to traditional lino, although there are a couple of differences worth remembering.

Soft block requires much less pressure to carve, making it an excellent option for beginners. However, because it's softer, it also won't hold extremely fine detail in quite the same way as traditional lino.

If your design contains lots of tiny marks, consider making it slightly larger or simplifying some of the details.

Begin by carving around the outside of your design with a V-shaped tool before gradually removing the inner shapes.

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Max recommends checking your printed reference frequently while carving.

"You can't put it back once you've carved it away."

As you work, remove excess material around the outside of the design using a craft knife until your block is ready for printing.

Unlike paper printing, where ink is rolled onto the lino with a brayer, fabric printing works best with a sponge.

A sponge gives a more solid print while also making it easy to blend colours directly on the block.

Simply dab the paint onto the raised surface rather than brushing it on.

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You can also add multiple colours to create beautiful gradients and layered effects.

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Place a piece of scrap paper or card inside your tote bag or underneath thin fabric to prevent paint bleeding through.

Position your lino block where you'd like the print to appear before pressing down evenly with your hands.

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Because soft block compresses easily, avoid pressing too hard or the design may distort.

Every fabric behaves a little differently, so it's worth making a few practice prints on scrap fabric before committing to your final project.

Allow your fabric paint to dry completely before heat setting.

To make your print permanent:

• Turn your fabric inside out and iron the reverse side, or

• Cover the print with a thin cloth before ironing directly on top.

Use a medium heat setting for around five minutes.

Once heat set, your print can be washed without the design lifting.

One lino block can be used again and again.

Try printing on:

• Tote bags

• Tea towels

• Cushion covers

• Aprons

• Fabric patches

• Pencil cases

• T-shirts

• Canvas zip pouches

Experiment with different fabrics, colour combinations and layouts. Even using the same block with different paint colours can produce completely different results.

• Keep your printed reference nearby while carving.

• Test your paint and pressure on scrap fabric first.

• Use a sponge instead of a brayer for more even coverage.

• Don't overload the block with paint.

• Work fairly quickly, as fabric paint dries faster than printmaking ink.

• Build up designs using several smaller lino blocks for more interesting compositions.

Now that you've learned how to print on both paper and fabric, you're ready to start building a collection of reusable lino blocks.

If you're new to printmaking, head back to our How to Make a Lino Print: Seashell Tutorial for Beginners to learn the carving process from start to finish.

Once you've mastered these techniques, experiment with your own illustrations, repeat patterns and layered colour combinations to create handmade gifts, homewares and wearable art.