Crayon Tinting

I've mentioned Crayon Tinting several times in my blogging but I don't think I ever explained what it is.

Wax crayons were first manufactured in the late 1800's. Sometime in those early days, it was discovered that crayons don't wash out of fabric! The story I heard is that some mom somewhere found that her little one left a crayon in a pocket and we all know where this is going! I don't have children, but I'm sure many of you can relate to this!

Shortly thereafter, newspapers and women's magazines were suggesting color tinting as a quick and easy replacement for applique. And of course, needlework catalogs eventually began to offer pretinted linens. I've also read that due to hard economic times, crayon tinting became a good way to conserve embroidery thread.

Here's a beautiful example of crayon tinting. This piece was worked by Robin, one of the stitchers at my Ez Board. Robin was kind enough to allow me to share her photo with my readers. Robin's pattern is an Aunt Martha's Iron-On Transfer design.



The technique for crayon tinting is quite easy. Simply apply your design to your fabric (I use muslin or quilter's cotton and it's suggested that you prewash to remove sizing) either by tracing your design with a washout blue pen or ironing on your transfer design.

Make a pad of several layers of fabric and lay your design piece on top of that. You won't want to color on a hard surface. To get the soft look you'll need the pad of fabric as a cushion. Using regular everyday old fashioned crayons (I use Crayola) color your design as if you were coloring on paper. When you're happy with how it looks, press it with your iron between two sheets of paper. The excess wax will come off on the paper rather than on your iron. Then stitch as desired.

It's very easy and quite charming! Thank you so much Robin, for allowing me to share your work with my readers!

A good book to start with is "Vintage Tinted Linens & Quilts" by Design Originals.