Pastel Powertex – mixing colours for a Spring project

Mixing pastel Powertex is perfect for floral projects and gifts. Pastel colours can be easily mixed with Powertex Universal Medium or Powercolor pigments to create softer colours for your projects.

Powertex altered bottle project with pastel colours

This project was originally created for the Powertex UK design team. Transform glass bottles into floral Spring vases or use these techniques on any surface or creation.

Powertex Universal Medium colours are all mixable and with the exception of Transparent, will be weatherproof when cured. Pastel colours can be mixed using Ivory or White although I used Ivory for my project.

How to mix pastel colours with Powertex

Start with a simple pastel shade by taking a coloured Powertex Universal Medium and Ivory or White. Mix small amounts to start to see how you like the colour. Pour a little Ivory first and add very small amounts of the colour and mix as you go. Build up the colour slowly.

I’m using my favourite blue to start. I add small amounts of blue Powertex to Ivory  until I have a shade I like. I’ve also use Yellow Ochre and Terracotta mixed with Ivory for different bottles.

Mixing other colours

All the Powertex colours are mixable so you have a huge range of colour possibilities. If you have some other colours of Powertex you might want to try mixing some purples, oranges, or greens as well. These can also be mixed with white or ivory to make pastel versions.

You can read more about these colour mixes here.

Create pastel altered bottles with Powertex

Materials list

• Ivory Powertex Universal Medium
• Blue Powertex universal Medium
• Easy Varnish
• White Powercolor
• Small glass bottles
• Cotton fabric strips, I used muslin strips, length depending on bottle size
• String or twine
• Flower and butterfly embellishments, use whatever you have

Prepare the fabric

Cut strips of light fabric approximately 1-2 inches wide, pieces of string 2 – 4 inches long and choose embellishments that fit your spring or floral theme. I used muslin fabric found in the remnant bin at my local fabric store. Recycling old fabric is also a great idea for this project.

Mix pastel Powertex

Pour a few tablespoons of Ivory Powertex onto a plate or dish and mix a tiny amount of Blue Powertex into it. Add a little more until you have a pastel shade that you like. Start with a very pale version if you’d like to do a gradient up your bottle.

Tip: Add your colour to the Ivory in tiny amounts and not Ivory to the colour. 

Wrap the bottle

Coat fabric strips with the Powertex mix and wrap them around the bottle. Start at the top and after a few strips add a little more blue to the mix. Wrap the bottle in this way until it’s covered.

Make a gradient from pale blue to mid blue at the base.  Wrap the strips from the top down, loosely in spirals and overlapping to get this ragged texture.

Add embellishments

Add string and floral embellishments and create a focal point. I created spiral shapes with string and coated embellishments with Powertex and adhered them to the bottle. The little wooden butterfly was perfect. Leave this to become touch dry.

Mix white Powercolor for highlights

I’m using a white paint mix to highlight the textures. Using Easy Varnish with Powercolor mixes a water resistant paint. Make small amounts at a time as it dries quickly. I do this on a craft mat.

Use a dry brushing technique to highlight the textures of the fabric and the embellishments. Keep your brush flat and against the direction of the strips. Keep in the same direction over your bottle.

Pastel Powertex bottle vases

This Spring Powertex project uses easy techniques to create textured vases that can be made in your favourite colours.

The yellow bottle used Yellow Ochre and Ivory with a slight gradient from pale to darker at the bottom, just like with the blue one. The third bottle used Terracotta and Ivory and then a little Lead Grey. I really like this more neutral tone and I think it could be useful colour for textured art.

Using Powercolor pigments to colour Powertex

If you don’t have the range of colours of Powertex to mix up, you can also use powder pigments to tint White or Ivory. Powercolor is an intense pigment so just a tiny amount will make a difference.

Find out more about Powertex

Have you tried mixing Powertex colours? They don’t have to be pastels of course but you don’t have to miss out because you really want a purple Powertex project either.

If you’re new to Powertex you might find this article helpful. This project first appeared at Powertex UK Mixed Media Magazine as part of the Powertex UK Design Team.

[Updated May 2023]