I have had fun using fabric manipulation to transform one of my designs. It is a classic way to add a 3D element to your work.
For this design I drew a square grid of the back of the fabric. I then marked in diagonals where I wanted to sew. I then sewed across the squares in diagonals which created the form on the other side.
It was rather simple to do however the closer you became to finishing the harder it got as the fabric was shrinking in size and being transformed.
This is the final result. I feel that it turn out really well and has an interesting form to it.
The fringing foot is an attachment onto a sewing machine. You can use it to create multiple different affects. In my example i have made hoops to add texture to my fabric.
The fringing foot works by using a zig zag stitch or something similar on your machine. The needle jumps over a little metal piece which then creates a hoop.
I have attached a file which shows a video of how I am using it and my final outcome.
The French knot is a stitch which is great for adding raised texture. You can change the size of the knots depending on your thread and how many times you loop it round the needle to add variation into your work.
The French knot is quite simple to do but can be a little bit fiddley. To start with you pull the needle up through the fabric. You the go to point your needle to go back through the fabric close to where you just pulled it up through. Before you push it back down you wrap the thread around the tip of the needle twice. Then hold the thread to one side and push the needle through the fabric. The thread should knot creating a French Knot.
I have used the whipped back stitch in a couple of my fabric samples. I feel this technique is is simple and effective.
To do this stitch all you need is a needle, embroidery thread and an embroidery hoop.
To start with you need to use a simple back stitch to create your line. A back stitch is when you bring the needle up through the fabric and stitch it back onto itself. This creates a smooth line with no gaps.
Once you have done this you then get some more tread and loop it around the back stitch you have just created. This second step isn’t stitched into the fabric it is just looped around the first stitch.
Here are some examples where I have used the whipped back stitch.
I love using Devore as a process in the print workshop. I love how the fabrics get transformed and that you can see through them. It is by far one of my favourite techniques to use.
The process is pretty simple you just use the Devore paste the same as you would any other screenprinting binder however there are some things that you need to remember.
1 – always wear gloves when using it
2 – Always wear eye protection such as googles
3 – Have your hair tied out the way
4- Wear a lab coat or old clothes so you do not get it on you
5 – If for some reason it gets on your skin wash it off straight away
6 – Make sure you pull the paste through the screen 6 – 10 times
7- For the devore to work you must use a fabric that is a combination of natural fibres and synthetic fibres.
Once you have printed using the devore you need to let it air dry. Devore does not really work well when you dry it with a hair dryer. This can take up to an hour to dry so you must me patient. Once it is fully dry you can press it in the heatpress. This part can vary depending on what fabric you chose to use. The heat press should be set to 180 degrees and I would start off by putting your fabric in for around 15 seconds. You are looking for the devore areas to turn a coffee brown colour. When it is this colour you know it is ready to come out of the heatpress. If the fabric doesn’t turn this colour straight away keep pressing it for 10seconds at a time until it reaches this stage. You do not want your fabric to burn this is why you go up 10 seconds at a time.
Now your fabric has been pressed, wash it in the sink with warm water scrubbing the devore areas. You should see the fibres being washed away and your pattern coming to life. Leave to dry and then it is done.
Procion Manutex Mix is a process that you can apply in different ways. In my case I used this process to paint onto fabric with brushes so I could keep the texture of the brush strokes. The paste is a thick consistency when being painted on to the fabric. After you have created your desired design whether you painted it on by hand or pulled it through a screen you must wait for it to dry fully before the next step. I then used the heat press set to a temperature of 120 degrees to heatpress the fabric for 10 minutes. This then sets the dye into the fabric. After you have done that you need to rinse the fabric in cold water for 2-5 minutes making sure the excess dye is washes away. You then leave the fabric to soak in warm water for 10 minutes. After that rinse the fabric again in cold water making sure the water runs clear before you stop. You can then leave your fabric to dry and it is ready for you to do whatever you like with it.
I found this way of creating really fun as I did not need to coat up a screen with a design I was free to just paint what I wanted straight onto the fabric. The colours turn out very similar to how they look when you paint them on so you have a better idea of what it will look like when it is finished.
The only downside to this process is that the procion manutex mix is at its best for roughly 4/6 hours. This means the pigment is at its strongest then. As time goes on the pigment gets weaker so the colours are less strong and some of the lighter brush marks may get washed out.
The pictures show below are of my hand painted silks. You can see that the fabric really picks up on every brush mark and grey areas.
This picture shows a sample that i made using an exposed screen. I pulled the procion manutex through the screen just like you would with any other paste.
I have been using the heat press dyes to create samples for my Female Vocalist Collection.
Heat press dyes are very easy to use and you can do so many different things with them. To use you literally just paint onto plan paper using the dyes. The dyes are a liquid so you can mix them together to make new colours or water them down to make them less vibrant. This part is a bit tricky as the dyes do not look like the colours they will be when they have been transferred onto the fabric. This means you have to do many test samples to check the colours. The colours can also vary depending on what fabric you use. Once you have painted your design onto the paper you then wait for the paper to be fully dry. You can use a hair dryer to do this. However if your paper is very wet the ink may spread when drying it with a hair dryer. Once it is fully dry you can then place your fabric onto of the paper and put into the heatpress for about 15/30 seconds. When you take you fabric out of the heatpress your design should be beautifully transferred onto the fabric.
When using the heatpress dyes you can cut up the painted up paper and collage your design onto the fabric. You can also print onto of the first transfer as many times as you like, building up layers of colour and pattern onto the fabric. Another option you can use is you can paint up objects such as leaves and feathers and press the in the heatpress. This gives you really interesting outcomes.
The heatpress dyes also resist black printer ink. If you print a design on to paper in full black and white when you paint up the paper the dyes will not cover the black ink parts. When you the press your design in the heatpress everything that was black will be resisted. I used this technique a few times in my work. The second picture shows an example of this. Something to be aware of when using this method is that the black ink can sometime stain the fabric so you need to press it once on a scrap piece of fabric first. Then go and press it on your final sample second to get the best results. I have attached a photo to show what this can look like.
Here are a few examples of what I have created using this technique.
Chiodi's Textiles Blog 