Stenciling fabric curtains

Yes, if you heat-set it properly, which is the step that makes or breaks the project. Fabric paint bonds permanently once heated, surviving wash after wash, but skip the heat-setting and the pattern fades or washes out in a single cycle. I iron the dried paint through a cloth for a couple of minutes, or tumble dry on high, following the paint's instructions exactly.

Proper fabric paint or textile medium mixed into acrylic, not plain acrylic alone. Fabric paint stays flexible and bonds to fibres, while neat acrylic dries stiff and cracks. I use a textile paint for stencilling because it holds a crisp edge, and for larger areas I mix textile medium into acrylic to keep it soft. Always test on a fabric scrap first.

Use a dry brush and dab, never drag. I load very little paint on the brush, offload most of it onto paper, then dab straight down through the stencil so paint cannot creep under the edges. Spray adhesive on the back of the stencil holds it flat, which matters most on fabric since it shifts more than a hard surface.

Yes, as long as they are washable natural fabric. Cotton and linen take fabric paint beautifully, while heavily synthetic or water-repellent curtains resist it. I wash and iron the curtains first to remove any finish, lay them flat on a protected surface with card behind the layer I am painting, and work in sections. Pre-washing stops the fabric shrinking and distorting the pattern later.

An afternoon for the painting, plus drying and setting time. A single repeating stencil across a pair of curtains takes a few hours of dabbing, then the paint needs to dry fully (usually overnight) before heat-setting. The fiddly part is keeping the repeat aligned, so I mark light guide points first. It is slower than it looks but genuinely satisfying.