Continuing with the project 'print, pattern, colour' I am experimenting with loads of textile processes learning how to complete various textile techniques. I am going to make a serious of samples each presenting textile techniques. By exploring the different textile techniques it allows me to create my own unique designs which will withhold multiple textile processes. I am going to experiment these techniques through a series of practical lessons. For example, how to treat and create fabric using a variety of textile processes: such as silk painting, embroidery, poly block printing. All of these processes will help me to produce print, pattern and colour in new ways. These lessons will allow me to develop and build my textile skill base, by opening me up to processes which I may wish to use in work as I move through the 2-year qualification.
Silk Painting
Today I experimented with the beautiful silk painting process and technique. Silk painting has come a long way from its beginnings in the ancient imperial courts. This technique was smuggled to Central Asia, seized by the Crusades and combined with batik inspired methods in Western Europe and Brought to America. This gorgeously painted textiles technique is now practised all around the world.
The process of silk painting starts by you creating a pattern on paper and tracing this pattern onto silk with gutter dye. I first fixed the silk in a felxi wooden hoop then mascintaped my paper design under neath this. The specific gutter dye I used for the silk painted outline creates a bold solid outline which will hold and fix in the other dyes, preventing them from leaking. I chose to outline my design using black gutter dye. After this process I then painted on different coloured dyes, applying them to all areas of the pattern to create a beatifully hand made silk designed pattern.
For my silk pattern design I created a pattern that mimicked the patterned styles of henna. I also created a Chinese styled dragon to represent old classical features in my pattern, due to silk painting being originated from china.
I chose to select bright bold colours which I thought would compliment my design hugely. The coloured dyes I selected were red, blue, pink and a gorgeously pure green dye for the back ground. I really liked how the colours fit with my design. The decision to have green dye for the background of my design hugely beautified the hole entire print, making it boldly come to life.
Over all I liked how my design turned out as the two patterns really complimented eachother as well as the beautiful bursting colours. When outlining my design with the gutter dye, I found that it was tricky to get clean equally thick lines. For future reference I will design a less detailed pattern as it will be far more acomblishably to create clean outlines.
Mark Making
Today I experimented with mark making on materials making textured markings over fabric to sample out various different mark makings. The markings are made by either layering materials ontop of each other, dying the fabric, stitching over the material or adding beads and gems. Mark making consists of creativity by using various different things that will create markings onto a fabric. Layering fabrics can be done to create markings as well as using different fonts of stitching on the sewing machine. I decided to create three sampled pieces of mark making, each presenting markings differently. On one of my sampled pieces I created markings by dying the fabric in areas, sewing over the top of it in different fonts of stitching, and layering different fabrics over the top. On another one of my samples, I dyed the fabric in areas creating a dotted pattern effect. I then hand embroidered onto the sample using the French knotting technique. Finally on my last sample I dyed it in areas creating a stripe effect, then I eventually layered on strips of felt material and hand stitched them on.
I really liked how all my sampled pieces turned out because they each presented unique and colourful markings. I specifically liked how my layered sampled piece turned out as I layered it with silk like, clear material in areas which gave it a futuristic style. I also included the technique gathering in an area where I gathered the silk like material, then layered and sewed it on to create a textual mark making piece. I specifically liked the French knots I had embroidered on one of my samples, because it mimicked the textures and looks of the middle part of a flower, which I was creating on this sampled piece. The zebra print effect markings also looked extremely extravagant with the dye seeping through it, which would make a beautiful item of fashion. For future refernce, I want to create more sampled markings including more hand embroidery, such as cross hatching or adding beads and gems.
Hand stitching is another good way too do mark making because you having more control and precision. More accurate markings can be made when hand stitching such as cross hatching, French knotting and other hand embroidered stitches. On one of my mark making samples I used the French knotting technique to create a dotted marked pattern. The middle picture above shows the French knots I created on one of my sampled mark making pieces.
Before I started mark making I experimented out a variety of different markings on paper using different materials such as oil pastel, dye, chalk coal, chalk and string. I then evaluated these markings and made further markings mixing and merging all the other previous markings I tested out, to evaluate which ones looked best.
I specifically liked the oil pastel markings because they created a beautifully unique animal mark effect. I also admired the chalk coal markings as they created an eye catching mark mimicking a zebra print look, which would look spectacular on an item of fashion. For future reference I will use a wider range of materials to sample out marking on paper so that I get a wider selection of marking to evaluate and choose from. I will also use different materials in future to create more unique and modern, futuristic markings.
Felting
Felt making is one of the most oldest and traditional fabric processes in textiles history, and even has stories of its origin relating to the Christian Nohas Ark. To create a piece of hand rolled felt, you use wool fibres and some of the earliest fibres to felt are merino wool fibres, from merino sheep.
To begin felt making I carefully selected different coloured dyed fibres, selecting colours that complemented each other positively. Once I collected all the complementing felt fibres, I got a towel and placed it onto the table. I then I gradually layout the fibres of wool. To layer the fibres I spilt them to make them finer and mixed them in with different coloured dyed fibres so that I could achieve an end result of a beautifully coloured felt piece. When layering the coloured dyed wool fibres, I made sure I layed them horizontally and vertically. This method makes it much more achievable to felt the fibres together more easily. I layered three layers. The first layer I placed down horizontally, and the second layer I placed vertically, then the third layer horizontally. Once I had layered the different coloured fibres in a horizontall crossed over with a vertical method, I then sprayed the felt fibres with warm soapy water. By doing this process it allows the fibres to matt together more easily. Felting is a process of physical rubbing that consists of water and heat to produce felted fibres. Therefore, the warm water will create heat when felting which will lead to the final end result, a felted piece of fabric.
Once I had soaked the dyed felt fibres in warm soapy water so that it looked damp, I then placed a layer of bubble wrap over the top of the fibres (facing down). I gently applied pressure to the top of the surface of the bubble wrap to ensure the water could spread across the whole surface. I the folded the towel over the top of the bubble wrap, and got a roller and rolled the bubble rap and the towel through the roller. I put pressure on the Roller whilst rolling. I rolled at different sides and directions so that the fibres could be felted successfully. After every 5 minutes I checked on the fibres to see if they were matted together in a felt piece. I did this processes several times until I was satisfied with the matted together fibres, and the fibres were a piece of felted fabric. To finish the felting process I physically rubbed the felt over the top of the towel and bubble wrap so that there was a good amount of pressure for the fibres to successfully felt. I also did this process to felt together the fibres that hadn't been successfully felted yet and was more finer and loosely matted. Once I finished rubbing the felt fibres to create pressure to felt the fibres together, the felt fibbing process had finished and the fibres had been auspiciously felted together.
After I had finished this felting process I then repeated this process selecting different colours of dyed felt wool fibres that complimented each other. This time when I layered the dyed felt fibres, which I layered with the same horizontal and vertical method.
However ontop of the layered fibres I created a heart and curl design out of fibres to experiment how they would turn out when felting them in with the rest of the fibres. After completing the felting method- spraying soapy warm water on the felt fibres, placing bubble wrap down and rolling it with pressure- the finished end result was unique.
The additional felted fibres that were added for decorative designs looked appealing and stood out elegantly in front of the different coloured felted fibres, which lay behind them.
I specifically liked the orange and blue felted fibres which held a felted decorative design of white fibres which created a white spiral. I also liked the other felted fibres with the heart shaped decorative design of red fibres. However this felted decorative design did get lost within the other felted fibres which lay behind it, whereas the white fibre spiral design stood out in front of the purple and orange background.
After I had made various sampled felted pieces I then selected a felted pice to choose as a background to place pieces of decorative designs over the top. I selected the pink, purple, red, blue and white felted piece to use as a background, as I felt this felted piece was the best out of the three felted pieces I had made. I then cut out floral patterns of the other two felted pieces, and layered them ontop of the felted piece background. I decided to cut out floral designs as I felt this would create a beautiful elegant felted pattern on the felted background piece. To felt in the felted cut out patterns onto the felted background, I repeated the same felting processes. However I applied more pressure so that the decorative felted patterned pieces felted securely into the background.
I decided to cut out flower pieces and layer them like flowers blowing in the wind. To add as much detail and decoration to this felted piece, I also cut out white felted circles and layered them around randomly to create more colour contrasts with the felted background.
Over all I really liked how this turned out. The cut out felted flowers made a gorgeous felted decorative piece on the pink, blue, red, purple and white felted background. The contrasting white felted circles made an additional unique style to the felted piece and fit in nicely with flowers and the felted background. For future reference I will use more contrasting colours when I'm placing decorative felted designs on top of a felted background, so that they stand out more bold and are more noticeably seen.
Poly Block Printing
I practiced out the textile process of poly block printing finding out the techniques used to make a poly block print and discovering the process used to create one. Poly block printing involves carving into a thin polyerstine slab and rolling a thin layer of paint, ink or dye over the carving in the polosterine, and printing it onto a material such as paper or fabric.
To begin this textile process I first took a polosterine block and carved a design into it using a sharp pencil. I made sure I was carful when carving a design into the polosterine as I didn't want to carve too hard because it would create a hole in the polosterine. Once I had finished carving a design onto the polosterine block, I then went over the engraved marks on my design making sure they were deep enough to create a beautiful print. However you don't want to over scratch out the engraved markings because it could create a hole and Ruin the print. After I had finished with sractching over the engraved design, I then selected paint colours I thought would compliment my design and would create a beautiful print. By using a roller I rolled the paint over my polesterine print, evening out the paint equally and making sure I didn't roll on too much paint. I wanted to make sure I didn't roll on too much paint because the print would not dry properly, and be damp and blotchy. After I rolled on a thin layer of selected paint I then carefully placed it over paper facing down. I used a dry roller to roll over the polosterine print, applying pressure so the print can be successfully transferred onto the paper. By using a roller to apply pressure over the polosterine print, it allows an equal amount of weight applied which creates a successful paint print.
For my fist poly block print I carved a henna design and used purple paint to create a beautiful print. I fist printed this print on a piece of paper to see how the print turned out. I was realy pleased with the paper print as it really defined the henna pattern creating a bold print. I then printed the
henna print onto a piece of plain cotton. I really liked how this print turned out as it created a bold elegant look. However to improve this print I could have rolled on more paint to get a more stronger print. Although the lack of paint created a unique look which looked ancient and rusted.
I then repeated this process making a new design on the polesterine block. This time I decided to design a Buddha to match with the theme of my henna design. I found it extremely hard carving the facial details of the Buddha in the polosterine so I decided to create more of an abstract carving. I decided to roll on orange and yellow paint for this print as I felt it would compliment this design hugely. I then printed the print onto paper to test it out and see how the design of the print looked. I was extremely pleased with how this turned out as the Buddha stood out hugely within the orange and yellow background creating an adventurous symbolising print. I then tested this print out on plain cotton fabric. I really liked how this print looked on the fabric. The Buddha stood out strongly embed within the orange and yellow bursting colours.
I then created a final polosterine print block carving in an elephant to continue with the theme of the other print block designs. Too add more detail in this carving, I decided to created floral henna designs around the elephant to hopefully create an elegant gorgeous poly block print.
I experimented this print out on paper to test it out and then eventually on the plain cotton fabric. I extremely liked how this elephant print turned out. The gorgeous pure green paint colour used complimented the print hugely, preforming a dazzling wild print filled with delicate details. The green paint on this print created a fabulous designed print. The colour green thoroughly complimented this print hugely, creating the effect of life and nature greenery from the plants grown around the elephant. When I printed this print onto fabric, I decided to add different coloured paints onto the print such as red and brown. I decided to add more different colours of paint on this print to create more of an appealing unique print, fitting the carved in design by mimicking colours found in an elephants habitat. These colours really brought the print to life.
Over all I really liked how my poly block prints turned out on paper and fabric, as they each equally presented a unique solid bold print with complimenting bursting colours, that made the designs stand out brazenly. I was hugely pleased with the selection of colours I chose for each print, because they matched each print perfectly complimenting the individual designs on all of the prints.
Heat Transfer printing
I learnt about the process and method of heat transfer printing, and how the process works to create a beautiful transfer print onto material. To begin the process of heat transfer printing, I first painted a pattern design onto a piece of paper using specific heat transfer inks. I fist decided to paint a henna design in orange ink onto the piece of paper.
After I finished this process I then waited for the pattern ink design to dry completely so that the process later on could thoroughly work. After the painted ink design had thoroughly dried, I then got a piece of polyester fabric (man made fabric), Which I then placed flat down on an ironing bored. I then placed my paper painted ink print over the top of the polyester fabric facing down. For the next part of the process I ironed over the paper with the ink print layered ontop of the polyester fabric. I did this over a period of time so that it would successfully transfer onto the piece of polyester material. I continuously checked carefully to see if the heat transfer had worked. When ironing over the paper I made sure the I ironed all over in similar periods of time to get an accurate complete print. The longer I ironed over the paper the more obvious and clear the colour and print was. I ironed for approximately five minutes, making sure I successfully had heat transferred the henna ink print onto the polyester fabric.
The henna ink print successfully transferred onto the polyester fabric. However in some areas the print didn't strongly show. This is be cause there was a lack of ink in these areas so it was harder for the ink to be heated and transferred onto the polyester fabric. For future reference I will use more ink so that the ink pattern can transfer onto the polyester fabric auspiciously.
For my next ink prints I wanted to try out by painting celebrity faces. I first painted Marilyn Monroes face on paper using purple ink. I wanted to paint her face in an abstract style to create a unique print.
I also painted Michale Jacksons face on paper using purple ink, also creating an abstract type of style. Once these two painted ink faces had thoroughly dried, I then went onto the heat transferring process. I layered them on top of polyester fabric facing down, ironing over the top of them. I made sure I ironed them for a certain period of time so the painted faces I had painted in ink could successfully heat transfer onto the polyester fabric. The painted ink faces transferred strongly onto the polyester fabric creating magnificent abstract prints of Michale Jackson and Marilyn Monroes faces. The use of the purple ink hugely complimented the abstract outline of these celebrity faces, which performed a beautiful heat transfer print onto the polyester fabrics.
I really liked how these prints turned out because the purple ink was strongly transferred and concentrated on the plain white polyester fabric. The selected coloured ink boldly stood out presenting the amazingly talented celebrity faces. In some areas the ink hadn't successfully been transferred, however the lack of ink in certain areas created a more unique, peculiar significant heat transfer pint.
For my final practice of heat transfer printing, I wanted to experiment with printing an already printed out design. I first chose a printed out design which had been photocopied. This is because a printed out design wouldn't work with the heat transferring process. However a photocopied print does. I decided to choose a photocopied butterfly print.
I then got a separate piece of paper and painted a block of purple and orange ink to create an ombre affect. I made sure this ombre block of print could cover the photocopied butterfly. After I had done this process, I then went over to the ironing board and placed the paper with the block of ombre ink on it facing up. I then placed the photocopied butterfly print onto of this. After I had done this I ironed over both of the papers for a certain period of time, making sure I did it long enough for the butterfly print to pick up the ombre print inks. I did this for approximately five minutes before laying down the polyester material and ironing the butterfly print on top of it. Once I had done this process it revealed a gorgeously delicate Butterly ombre print of orange and purple ink on the polyester material.
Overall I really liked how this heat transfer print turned out because it thoroughly transfered the inks making them prominently show on the polyester material. The chosen ink colours purple and orange, complemented each other significantly making a peculiar unique ombre affect.
Angelina fibres
Today I learnt the process and method of making Angelina fibres and creating effects to cause burning distress to these fibres, to eventually create gorgeously experimented textile pieces.
To begin this process, I first selected a variety of Angelina fibres, picking out colours that I thought complimented each other hugely. Once I had selected my colours carefully by choosing colours I thought would look well together, I then moved onto burning these Angelina fibres together.
To begin burning the fibres together, I went over to an ironing board and lay down the fibres I had selected ontop of baking paper. When layering these fibres on top of each other, I wanted to make sure I layered the colours in an appropriate way, so that I could create a
unique successful outcome.
Once I had successfully layered the fibres, I then placed baking paper over the top of the fibres and ironed this in place. I ironed for approximately two minutes so that my Angelina fibres had successful been melted together creating a unique Angelina fibre textile piece.
I also checked to see if the Angelina fibre were stuck to the baking paper if I lifted them up, because this also meant they were successfully done and melted together. Once the fibres were merged together, I then got a piece of bonder web, which I then ironed on top of the merged together fibres, making sure I ironed it the right way with the ruff side
facing on top of the melted together fibres.
After the bonder web had been heated onto the fibres, I pealed it to reveal the sticky surface. I then placed polyester material over the sticky surface ironing this in place. After the Angelina fibres were successfully heated together with the boded web holding the polyester material, I then went onto burning the fibres gradually with a heat gun, causing holes to gradually pierce through it. This created a peculiar iconic look. I really liked how this turned out because the specific colours of fibre I selected looked gorgeously unique.
I wanted to experiment this Angelina fibre process using different coloured fibres. I repeated the same process, however I selected different coloured fibres. The other colours I selected were red and green Angelina fibres, as I felt these coloured fibres complimented each other well. Once I chose the coloured fibres, I then repeated the Angelina fibre process on the ironing bored, ironing the fibres together. After I had finished ironing the fibres together on the ironing board, I then moved onto burning the fibres with a heat gun to create textual pierced in holes. After I had finished this process, I then wanted to hand embroider onto the melted Angelina fibres. I first hand stitched on red polyester material to create a textual designed outcome. I then hand stitched on red netting material to create additional texture along with the burnt in holes. I used the French knotting technique with red thread, creating a more textual textiles piece. After I had finished adding in texture, I then burnt the polyester material with a heat gun lightly, to gradually produce a scrunched, rumpled up look. I really liked how this experiment with Angelina fibres turned out.
The colours looked gorgeous, presenting a unique colour outcome.
The additional features of the hand embroidery and the burning created a delicate textual piece, which performed a unique peculiar style.
After producing this textured textile piece, I then repeated the Angelina fibres process again, selecting green and yellow fibres, creating a delicately burnt unique piece. I also did a navy blue Angelina fibres piece, creating textures on it using hand embroidery, and also adding blue polyester fabric to create a peculiar iconic textile piece. I burnt these textile pieces with a heat gun, to create additional textures on top of the hand embroidery. I really liked how this pieces turned out. The colours I selected looked beautiful and complimented the textures and burnt in holes around the coloured
fibres thoroughly.
I was over all pleased with how my Angelina fibre experimentation turned out. The choice and selection of fibre colours looked aesthetically pleasing within my textile pieces. The decision to burn the fibres using a heating gun created an unseen peculiar style, which looked beautified to viewers eyes. My choice of hand embroidery added more textual features, which made my textile pieces cluster with a variety of different textures.
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