shannahtextiles-blog

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Metallic - Silver

Pearl - Red + almost invisible sample

Puff - Blue

Flock - Green

Within these experimental samples I used these various types of Binders and really enjoyed using each of them and learning how each of the processes work. To start with, I used the Metallic silver binder which has a nice shimmer, but is not very pigmented, although, I imagine it would be on a different colour fabric or using a different shade of the pigment powder. I created this sample using one of my texture designs which I feel didn’t work very well and I should have used a design with more shapes because the design looks very messy and almost like an accident rather than intentional design. Then I went on to use the Pearl Binder, which is very nice although in my first attempt I didn’t realise I was meant to add pigment to the binder and this lead me to print an almost invisible design, however after making this mistake I then added a red pigment which did not print correctly as the screen had become blocked with the original white pearl binder and made this design ineffective. I then went on to use the Puff binder which I added a blue pigment to and overall this is my favourite binder so far, I really enjoyed creating this sample and like the outcome. Once I printed my design on the fabric it had to go straight onto the heat press to create the “3D” raised effect on the fabric which I really like. Last but not least, I used the Flock Binder which I added a green pigment to and I really like the effect the texture has as it works well with the colour and creates a nice base fabric for me to work into with more processes. For this sample I had to wait until it was fully dry before it could be put under the heat press to fix the binder to the fabric.

Items used -

Metallic Binder

Pearl Binder

Flock Binder

Puff Binder

Pigments

Screen

Squeegee

Heat Press

Cotton

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Discharge Paste, Flock + Foil

This is my favourite process so far and out of all the samples I have created the discharge on Bouselene is my favourite as I love how the white on black makes my design stand out and the added foil gives a nice rough texture which I feel really creates a nice unusual effect. I love how the texture looks over the floral print and I really want to do this again for my final prints. I also used one of my previous samples as it was originally really messy and I didn’t like it so I felt that by going over it with the Flock that I could impose that sample. However, I do feel that the sample looks a lot better but personally, I feel that the Flock would have looked nicer on a clean fabric to really show off the design and the Flock. If I do this again I will use a fresh piece of fabric that has not been printed on.

I would like to use the Flock and Foil within other samples with different processes like painting on a screen as I can then used the painting on a screen process to create a unique design and then use the Foil to place one of my actual designs over the top sand see how this would come out.

Items used -

Screen

Squeegee

Flock

Foil

Discharge Paste

Bouselene

Cotton (with a previously made print)

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For this process I first of all dyed Cotton in both Procion and Acid Dye although Acid dye is actually used for Silk and Wool I used it anyway as I wanted to see the effect it had on the colour of my fabric. Overall I feel the dying has worked well and I do enjoy dyeing 20x20 fabric pieces for different lengths of time to achieve different outcomes. The Yello and Turquiose are Acid dye and the Green and Pink is Procien dye, some colours are different due to colours being mixed which I learned contaminates the original colour and I will not do again.

I then used to print my designs onto the dyed fabric and overall I was not happy with any of the outcomes as they are very messy and did not print well at all, I did not enjoy this process which I feel may be because I was running out of time and had to do them quick so I did not take my time to create these samples which ended in a bad result. However, I would like to use this process again in the future and give it a second chance to really understand and create a better outcome with this process. After the samples were made, they had to be steamed so that the print would fix to the fabric properly, then had to go through a rinse and repeat afterwards to ensure the excess was washed away from each sample.

Items used -

Screen

Squeegee

Procien Dye

Acid Dye

Steamer

Cotton

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Painting on a screen

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I really enjoyed this process as it allowed me to leave the “boundaries” of using my own prints and really experiment all the possibilities with this process. I like the flexibility in terms of colour, pattern and texture as it is much easier to achieve multiple designs and colour palettes. The first sample I made was by allowing my first colour of Grey to dry fully before then adding extra colour and texture with the pink dye. This is my favourite outcome of the two as I really like the shapes and textures I was able to create. My second sample I did wet-on-wet which I learned over a few minutes takes the detail and structure out of the design as the colours begin to merge and don’t hold a pattern or texture well like this, although I really enjoyed doing this as its nice to have two samples with one printing perfectly as should, and the other being more “ragged”. Overall this has been my favourite process so far and I definitely want to do this again because it was very inspiring and has endless possibilities for design and colour.

After I finished the two prints they had to be put into the steamer so that the print would “fix” to the fabric and then had to go through an extensive rinse and repeat process to ensure the excess is washed away thoroughly

Items used -

Screen

Squeegee

Conventional + Unconventional tools

Cotton

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Guest speaker

Amos from GH Leathers

07/11/18

Today we had a very interesting guest speaker who came to give us some information on fur and leather. Typically I am not a fan of fur or leather however in some cases I don’t mind it. I learned that fur itself is usually very expensive due to the fact farmers are usually breeding for that purpose only whereas GH leathers farm for leather which typically makes the fur cheaper as it is already attached to the skin. The minimum buy from GH leathers is 1 skin which can be smaller or bigger depending on the animal. Pig suede is cheaper than lamb skin which are some aspects to take into consideration when purchasing as the quality is also different along with the size. There is usually an average cut loss of 15-20% when comparing leather to purchasing fabric which is accurealy cut to measure unlike animal skin as that doesn’t have a accurate cut. For example, goat suede is smaller and the cut could be the price of a 1m fabric but only be half the size. Japan massage cows skin which creates a beautifully soft leather. Designers love this as it drapes much nicer than usual and is very soft. Peony which is a type of cow skin, can be screen printed onto although it is slightly textured as it still still has some fur on. I did purchase two pieces of fur/leather which was exmtremely soft and a very bright red colour. I plan on keeping this aside for a potential children’s-wear or accessories line in the future as the cuts are small and would only work for smaller garments or accessories.

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Acid Dyeing Materials

07/11/18

During this experiment I used; Crepedeshine, a type of Silk, Wooldelaine a Sheep Wool and Sheeting which is cotton. For the Wool and Silk experiment I dipped them into the Acid dye for 1, 3 and 5 minutes to see how the intensity changed, the acids were two colours red/blue and personally I prefers both materials and colours when dyed for only one minute. I then come into some issues with the Cotton as I kept “forgettingly” putting the cotton into the wrong dye which was acid dye instead of procion dye and this went surprisingly well. I really liked the outcome of this sample (dipped for 3 minutes) which created a really lovely pink. This is definetely the colour I want to make my fabric when I dye it for printing. Overall I enjoyed creating these experimental samples however it was time consuiming and I didn’t have enough time to print the cotton in the correct acid which I plan on hopefully doing next week.

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Wrap skirt illustrations and flat layout

5/11/18

I have been doing some drawing to establish exactly how I’d like my skirt to be. I haven’t quite decided yet and will use “peer feedback” to influence my next drawing that will hopefully establish my final skirt design. I am still planning and designing elements and how certain things may work or look better in different ways.

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Mixing pigments

05/11/18

Today i have been mixing pigments to establish a colour pallete that reflects the most important image from my primary research. I really like the colours I have created however the colour in the pots will always print lighter (as you see on the fabric sample) than what you create so always making a sample piece is important. To create the pigments the term “less is more” is very important as the pigments are very strong and go a long way. First of all, you have to get your binder into a cup/jar and then little by little start adding “dips” of your pigment. When creating my blue I wanted it to be dark so I added 3 drops. But when creating my creamy colour I didn’t even add a drop. Just wiped resedude very slight from the mixing spoon into the binder to add the tiniest bit and build up bit by bit to create the colour I wanted. I did really enjoy doing this as I was able to fully understand the process behind creating my own pigments.

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End of week tasks:

Research two movements ✖️

Do secondary research ✖️

Write repeat pattern blog post ✖️

Write garment design blog post ✖️

Write embroidery blog post ✖️

create a mood board ✖️

Finish Tuesdays borders ✖️

Our primary research in sketchbook ✖️

29/10/18 - 04/11/18

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Developing illustrations into digital designs

4/11/18

Firstly, I have drawn a photo of a unique patterned vase that I took a primary photo of from the V&A museum. This was one of my favourite primary research images and I would really like to include it within my final design so I have developed it digitally to make it more sustainable when screen printing the design onto my wrap skirt. Then I went on to do some Secondary research of Frida and noticed that many artist like to draw her “main/most” recognised features. I really liked this idea and decided to hand draw my own and develop this into a digital design. I have established that I want to add “artist pockets” onto my wrap skirt to hold paint brushes to reflect her, and would like these to potentionally be my placement prints that I would like to print onto my pockets and then embroid into. I will to a test piece for this to experiment with the idea and see if it is sustainable first.

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Pinterest Secondary Research

03/11/18

I decided to do a little bit of secondary research into wrap skirt styles as I wanted to understand what a “popular” design is. I really like the “below the knee” length of the skirts and the border prints around the bottom edge in some. I also like how the prints are placed and carefully repeatede on the others. The different sized and colour elements in the top right skirt are my favourite as this design really stands out and inspires me the most. I feel that this links well with my plans to print in 3 sized for my final skirt and the repetitive “tribal/geometric” print designs. 

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Developing illustrations into digital prints

01/11/18

I have drawn some border print designs in a square format. Usually people design their border prints as one strip but due to the shape and style of my skirt, my border print would work best if it was made up of individual prints. I really like the geometric and asymmetric shapes within these prints as they were inspired by my primary Iron Works research and I really like the outcome.I plan on using at least one of these in my final skirt design.  

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End of week tasks:

Print Seminar photos

Print Frida photos

Develop both sketchbooks

Write repeat print blog post

Do additional wrap skirts hand drawn

22/10/18 - 28/1018

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My embroidery sample

28/10/18

I did a range of embroidery techniques such as; Woven Picot, French knots, Trellis Stitch, Feather Stitch and two variations of sequin application. I would really like to add woven picot and the sequin techniques into my wrap skirt because I feel they will work well with my skirt design and the features within my skirt such as the pocket. I really enjoyed doing this and I am planning to do a experimental sample testing the effectiveness to incorporate these techniques into a printed illustration. 

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Guest speaker

Livia from Royal School of needle work

28/10/18

Today I had an amazing embroidery workshop that really inspired me. I have never really done a lot of embroidery in the past but I really enjoyed it. I would like to use embroidery within my final wrap skirt and add some detailed personal touches to my skirt. From doing this experimental piece, I would like to create another sample, working onto a “draft template” of my wrap skirt design as I wanted to embroider the print work within my skirt and I would like to do a test piece of this to see the outcome and effect.  ool of needle work

30/10/18

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Garment design ideas

26/10/18

Today I have focued on creating some simple drawings of my ideas for my wrap skirt. taking into consideration the placement of the border print and general layout of the wrap. Such as; the tye placement, length, style and skirt features. I have also thought of potential colour paletes. (in the first image) the lest colour palete is colours that I presonally like and the right are the ones I moreso associate with Frida’s style. Due to this realisation, I will use colours that I find more relatable to her. (in the first image) I really like the second model (right) due to the circular pattern on the print and the placement of the print. Doing this task has helped me very much to understand how I want my final wrap skirt to look. 

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Repeat Patterns designs - Problem solving

25/10/18

Today I decided to create some repeat prints. I really like the outcome of these and the colours. however, after creating them (potentionally to use in a print) I realised they would not be usable due to the fact I had not made them and black and white which is required for prints going onto a screen. I do plan on making some more just in black and white as I really like the outcome because of the clear clink to my research for Wednesdays module.