Text-ile Design

Friday, March 4, 2011

Natural dyeing experiments

Banana = Brown

Orange/Mandarin peel = Yellow

Bark & Fungi = Brown

Kumquat = Light Yellow

Cape sorrell = Bright Yellow

Hibiscus = Dark Red/Brown

Geranium leaves = No Colour

Species unknown = Brown

Soaked jute in Magnesium carbonate and boiling water for 1 hour.

Soaked jute in Baking soda and boiling water for 1 hour.

Extracted colours:

Top left - Bark & Fungi

Bottom left - Cape Sorrell

Top right - Kumquat

Bottom right - Hibiscus

Soaking the jute in the simmering pot for around 15-30min

Samples:

Top - Baking soda mordant

Bottom - Magnesium carbonate mordant

Screen printing on wood, jute & tiles

Screen printing on Wood

Screen printing on Tiles

I used an opaque & glossy emulsion with my pigments.

The screen printing was done with the photographic method:

1. Degrease the screen by scrubbing and washing it.

2. Leave to dry in the drying cabinet.

3. Preparing your artwork; the image must be in black either drawn or printed on acetate or an oiled photocopy which makes it translucent.

4. Once the screen is dry apply the *emulsion with a scooper and leave it in the drying cabinet for 45-60minutes.

*The emulsion is sensitive to light.

5. The next step is to expose the screen with the transparency in an exposing unit for 12 minutes.

6. Wash your screen slowly until the design starts appearing. Once the whole design shows place some tape on the edge of the screen.

7. Place it back in the drier for 5-10 minutes.

8. When the time is over it's ready to print.

Photos by Maria Isabel Lefosse

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Shop Window Art

Top shop display window

Selfridges display window

Link here:

http://www.selfridges.com/en/Whats-On/Events/London/Celebrate-London-Fashion-Week-At-Selfridges_Celebrate%20London%20Fashion%20Week%20At%20Selfridges/?brdcrmb_trail=WhatsOn%7CEvents&rssLink=false

Tooting Market Project: Natural Dye Workshop

This week I attended a natural dye workshop by Kirstie Williams which is part of the tooting market project.

Links here:
http://www.kirstiewilliams.blogspot.com
http://tootingmarketproject.wordpress.com

Natural dye method:

1. Mixing the mordant and water to soak the material.

Recipe: 100gr. of material = 5 grams of copper (copper sulphate) + 50ml vinegar in 1 litre of warm water.

Hot water = shorter time for the material to soak.

Cold water = longer time for the material to soak.

Function: fixative.

2. Soak the material for 1-2 hours.

3. Soak the weld in water for 45mins - 24hours for better colour results.

4. Strain the weld through a net curtain.

5. The fabric goes into the dye bath (medium heat on the stove. The longer you leave it the darker the colour and the shorter you leave it the lighter the colour.