Screen Printing My Own Fabric

During my work placement at 'Ink & Spindle' I showed Tegan and Lara the fabric designs I made for my assignment. They then let me design and create my own silk screen print, when they didn't need me to do any jobs for them. I decided to challenge myself and design a peacock motif. It took half a day to draw, and a whole day to cut out, but the end result was worth it.


Sketching the Peacock

Cutting out the Stencil



Screen Printing

Heat Setting the Fabric



Peacock in Ocean Blue

Going to 'Ink & Spindle'

Work Placement: Wednesday 22nd August – Friday 24th August

 

'Ink & Spindle's Studio

 

I arrived at the Young Husband building at 11 o’clock for my first day of work placement

While I was there I undertook any job Lara or Tegan gave me. Some of these jobs included

 

-Wrapping bundles of fabrics to be delivered to customers,

-Cutting up sample squares of fabrics

-Taking out the rubbish

-Cleaning the dishes

-Making tea

-Learn how to fold 'fat quarters' -Watch Tegan and Lara print fabrics

-And clean used screens

I learnt a lot about the design industry from watching these two creative designers and listening to what they had to say. It was a great opportunity and I would defiantly do it again if i had the chance. 

 

 

Folding 'Fat Quarters'

Cleaning a Screen with a Pressurised Hose



Watching Tegan and Lara Print Some Fabric

My Design Process

I chose to use my Eucalyptus flower design as my final piece. This is the design process that I used:

-sketch the design


Sketching with Copic Markers

 

-refine design and chose what colours to use

Final Design



-trace design onto stencil



Stencil



-use Stanley knife to cut out stencil

Cutting out the Stencil

-materials that I used



Jo Sonja's Textile Medium, Acrylic Paints, Fabrics Paint, Stanley Knife, Stencil

-stick stencil to fabric stretched over a wooden frame

First Trial

-use the 'dry brush technique' to apply fabric paint to the fabric

Dry Brush Technique

-first trial (this didn't work because you need a firm back, the fabric over the canvas was to 'bouncy' and the paint bleed through the lines)


First Trial

-second trial, this one had cardboard behind it and it worked much better 

Second Trial

-colour trial


Dark Pink and Grey

 -stencil onto a European pillow case

I am using a European Pillow Case for the Final Design

-finish stencilling the design

Final Stencilling

-heat set the fabric paint

Using an Iron to Heat Set the Fabric

-final result

Final Presentation



Work Placement

For another TAFE assignment I had to do at least a days work placement at a design company. 'Ink & Spindle' have allowed me to travel to Melbourne and join their team for a few days, to learn what the design industry is really like. Not only does this allow me to complete my work placement assignment, it will also help me with my previous mentioned assignment (to design a fabric based on 'Ink & Spindle's design process). I can also show them the fabric that I have designed and get their opinions.

I went to 'Bright Sparks' today and heard about different creative fields and how to enter the design history. I attended a workshop about how to create a brand and logo, very interesting!

Bright Sparks Program and Ticket

Creating My Own Design

I have decided to design two different fabric print collections for my assignment. The main collection is based on the surrounding area of my home town, Albury-Wodonga, as 'Ink & Spindle's designs are based on their home, Melbourne. Taking inspiration from the surrounding area fulfils part of my assignment, where we must follow the design process of our chosen company. the second collection is inspired by the circus, which recently passed through town.




Sketching with Copic Markers in Class

Last week in class I came up with some design ideas and started sketching them.

Willow Leaves, Eucalyptus Flowers, Circus Parade

Over the next few days I decided what I wanted in each collection and drew some other designs.

Wattle



Willow Leaves



Clocks

Circus Parade