PRINTING ON FABRIC

My last entry was mostly full of stitching and all things textured so for a complete contrast this post is mostly full of printed fabrics with just a smidge of stitching.

I had myself a fabulous two days with just my gelli plates and a selection of acrylic paints. I pretty much started early in the morning on both days and worked until I ran out of room! I did read up a little on the subject of printing on fabric but decided that if I was going to find a fabric and method of printing suitable for my requirements then I was going to have to experiment and find it for myself. 

 

Many pieces of fabric and test papers later and I thought I was finally getting somewhere. The prints above were made with my own stencils and mix of paints. I have two gelli plates, one of which I keep scrupulously clean. The second plate is covered in printing marks, oddments of colour and bits of hard paint which I use to add a very textured and unique feel to the print.  I wasn't too worried about the complexity of the print or its visual qualities; my principle aim was to have a printed fabric that retained its suppleness and soft draping quality along with being very suitable for stitching. 

We won't discuss the state of my kitchen (so carefully draped to protect any splashes) or the colour of my hands and apron but what I will say is that despite the mad professor approach to the printing I did in fact have my eureka moment! So, I now have a method of printing unique to myself which I can repeat concentrating on the art and not the process. Hopefully this will result in a more liberated quality of print.

Time to try out the theory and work on some soft furnishings. The two pieces below have been stitched and are ready to be made into cushion panels. Each piece is approximately the size of the large gelli plate so I will be using a second plain fabric to complete the cushions; the plain colour will serve as a contrast. If successful I will need to consider printing on larger pieces of fabric but that is another story for the future.

 

From work in progress to a finished piece (below) in my abstract set of stitched and layered floral themed pieces. This was constructed from the 'test' papers using wet strength tissue. 

Time to go and finish my cushions and think about adding a proper painting studio (with taps and a sink please) to my Christmas list!!