How to Write on Faux Leather + DIY Custom Jacket Tutorial
PSST! Pin this image for later! | Photo Credit: Krissy Breece Photography
DIY Project: How to write and paint on a Faux Leather Jacket
So you’re planning your wedding (or you just scored concert tickets) and decided you want custom jackets for you and your besties. Good news, that’s totally doable! The material of the jacket will determine what you’ll need to use to write on it. The jacket I used for this particular project is made of faux leather, which means paint pens are the way to go. If you have a fabric jacket, you may want to read my blog post on How to Write on Fabric.
What should you write on your jacket?
Anything! If you’re looking for some ideas for customizing a wedding jacket, a few popular things to write include your name, nickname, Mr./Mrs., Wifey, Bride, wedding date, etc. If you’re making these for your bridesmaids, consider just writing their names so they can use the jacket after the wedding. Customizing jackets for concerts has become really popular, too, especially if you’re headed to Taylor Swift concert. In that case, you’ll see jackets customized with things like Swiftie, Taylor Swift, Eras Tour, tour dates, and even the names of favorite songs or album covers.
Can you draw on the jackets?
Of course. While I tend to write on everything, you could just as easily use the paint pens or fabric markers to draw anything you’d like. Just take your time around buttons, zippers and seams as uneven surfaces get tricky to draw on. If I’m drawing on fabric, it’s almost always going to be a floral design or something seasonally specific. But the sky’s the limit!
What if you make a mistake?
Oil based sharpies are meant to be permanent so take your time. I did make a mistake -eek! - so I tested out cleaning methods to fix the stray mark. I’ll save you the trouble of panicking and say that soap and water did nothing. Luckily, rubbing alcohol and a cloth worked like magic and didn’t leave any sort of stain on the jacket. YAY! For more details on how I fixed a mistake, scroll to the bottom.
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Here's what you'll need:
Newsprint & Cloths
Rubbing Alcohol
Scrap Paper & Marker
Here’s how I created this project step by step:
You can use Oil Based Paint Pens to write on Faux Leather. I used a Fine Point Sharpie for this project. The Sharpies come in a variety of sizes and colors, so choose what works best for you!
Quick start steps:
Step 1 - Determine where on the jacket you’ll be writing. Large, seamless sections will be the easiest.
Step 2 - Start by practicing your design on a scrap paper that is the same size as the space you want to write on.
Step 3 - Test a small hidden spot to check that your jacket will take the paint. I used an inside clasp that is not visible when the jacket is worn. After waiting 10 minutes the spot was completely dry. Now you’re ready to start writing and painting on your jacket. I wrote the word Wifey on the upper back of the faux leather jacket.
Make a test spot
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
How to prime a paint pen
So you’re using a new paint pen or using paint pens for the first time? (That’s awesome! You’ll love using paint pens!) But
Prime the oil based markers by pumping them (point down) on a non-porus surface like a piece of plastic packaging or bottle in your recycling bin.
Start with a draft
Use copy paper or scrap paper to practice writing your design. This ensures that the size of your writing fits the area on the jacket but also helps you to center the design without the guesswork.
It’s a whole lot easier to toss the scrap paper and start over. Not as easy to start over once you’re writing on your jacket.
Bottom line: don’t skip this step!
Adjust the placement
Now that you have a design that you’re happy with, center it over the part of the jacket you want to write on. You can use a ruler if you want to make sure it’s perfectly centered, but I just eyeball it. Try to use the same size letters on the jacket that you used in the draft to ensure the final design will fit and look balanced.
Write it & rewrite it
One pass with the sharpie left enough of an outline for me to go back and repeat. It took 3 passes with the marker to achieve the opaque look I wanted.
How to hand letter with markers:
You can use paint pens to achieve the popular hand lettering look. Write your word or phrase in your best cursive handwriting until it is opaque. Then go back and thicken any downward stroke.
A downward stroke is anytime your hand moves down the page to create the letterform. For instance, the letter “O” would have a thicker downstroke on the first left half and a thinner upstroke on the remaining half.
TIP - The width of your marker’s tip should be used to create your thinnest lines (ie a single stroke of your marker). Whereas the thickest lines will be created by using 2x or 3x the width of your marker’s tip (ie 2 or more marker strokes drawn side by side).
How to remove paint from faux leather
To remove a stray paint mark, I put the rubbing alcohol on a paper towel and wiped at the spot. It made the instantly-dry, permanent paint turn wet again, and I was able to completely wipe it off with a clean part of the paper towel.
If you make a mistake, don’t panic, odds are rubbing alcohol will save you. BUT always test a small spot first - remember that test mark you made with the sharpie? Attempt to clean that first before fixing stray marks on the visible parts of the jacket.
Use small amounts of rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab or towel to loosen the paint and then wipe the now wet paint off with the clean dry part of the cloth.
And the final result…
This hand lettered jacket was used for a ‘Wild Things’ themed styled shoot. These last three stunning photos were taken by Krissy Breece Photography.
Models: @cmaubs + @trevblack
