Well … screen-printing, whoar! You guys. I’m totally sucked in. Somebody stop me!
So yesterday everyone was out except for me … but I had fabric. I had a design and paint and I had a screen. I had a big outdoor table, all to myself.
I hopped straight into it.
Luckily I had cooked a massive pot of soup in the morning because I was pooped by the end of the day!
So, this is a five colour design, with two sets of two and three quarters pattern repeats spread over two pieces of fabric.
The fabric is an ivory cotton from Homecraft Textiles. It is quite tightly woven, crisp and stiff, but it’s not too bad with a quality like a coupla steps up from calico.
I started out by cutting a roughish dress outline, using my tried and true sheath dress pattern Burda 8511, I did this mostly to gauge out the size of the design, how it would look proportionally on a dress.
My design is one that is very forgiving to wonky alignment, even so I think my registration is improving; this time I spent a lot of time carefully measuring and marking key placement spots. I tacked crosses at the border junctions of each repeat and marked the fabric with pins at the corner points for the screen for each repeat. I was intentionally going for a more random appearance this time, so with each repeat I purposely moved the screen just a tiny bit this way and that way so the pattern would not be too obviously identical from one repeat to the next.
The colours: I’m such a scrooge and was really economical here! I started out with the palest colour and then continued adding to it to make the subsequent colours. I only have a little bit of the last colour leftover so this approach really did make the most of my paint.
The pattern repeat, although they each vary slightly:
Thoughts:
Far from perfect, but I’m pretty happy with it. I like the late 60’s/early 70’s vibe it’s giving me. These are my earliest years so I’m drawn to this time 🙂
Sometimes, my first print after a colour change is terrible and comes out scratchy no matter how carefully I try to flood the screen. This happened twice during this project, and also happened with my poppy print. Meaning that statistically speaking, I have a 50% chance of a good first print, subsequent prints seem to go on more easily, smoothly and cleanly. So to save myself tears, in the future I’m going to have a sacrificial scrap piece of fabric sitting on the side for that pesky first print.
The colours were supposed to be more transparent; I added what seemed to be heaps of transparency medium to the darker colours! but they are just NOT all that transparent. Disappointed! Some of the overlaps have masked the underneath colour completely. I’m going to check with my teacher a good transparency ratio, or maybe the future I should minimise overlapping of motifs.
So eventually this will be a dress, but not yet. I’m a-pondering it for a while.
…
With a pensive silence and furrowed brow.
…
It’s funny how easily we can slice into shop-bought printed fabric without a second thought but when it is your very own precious print, cutting into it is terrifying!
For now I’m embarking on a couple of quickie wardrobe fixer-ups, plus now I’ve done this project at home I have to cut some more stencils before my next class… later, dudes! 🙂
It looks great, again! You´re work is very inpiring, as usual!
Carolyn – your print is stunning. Will look awesome made up, please don't be too scared to use it.
Oh wow. It's so beautiful, well done. That's taking originality to a whole new level! Can't wait to see the finished dress
What kind of paint do you use for this technique? I'm not a fan of your colours – they wouldn't suit me at all like they will you – nor of the 60s for that matter (I liked the 70s alright though); but when you mentioned adding a little black to your mustard, my brain flashed up taupe and muted blues and I was immediately green with envy! I can understand being more nervous cutting this: you've already made a major investment in the fabric by the time you get to that stage; but I'm sure you'll cope.
Permaset aqua textile printing ink
I love, love, love the colors, and the activity, and the great late-60s vibe. I wonder what the dress will look like with all this energy!
Awesome Carolyn, it will look so great made up!
Oh how I wish I knew how to do this! You are so talented!
cool! it's very interesting to read about your learning process…it's not as easy as it may seem before you start…like any new skill you need time and patience. i'm sure you will become a pro soon. it will look great as a shift dress 😉
Cool alright. I can see why you are taking to screen printing. I'd go with the simplicity of a sleeveless shift dress.
Love the print, as always your skills inspire me! Can't wait to see the dress made up.
oh gosh I could totally get into that and I love the design – I saw a programme on screen printing fabrics last week and that had already spurred my interest and now you have to go and do this…..grrrrrrrrr
What a great job you have done! You seem to have such an eye for colour (well everything really!) I bet you had such fun! What amazes me about being totally absorbed in something is how time seems to disappear.
This would look amazing as a shift dress. I love the pattern and colours. We have been screen printing this weekend too (must be something in the water!). Nothing for me unfortunately, just skateboarding t-shirts for the boys. They loved making them. I'm not sure how you managed without a helper to hold the screen steady.
How fabulous. I am looking forward to seeing the finished dress. The underwear set is beautiful too. What a clever daughter!
Nicely done! What a huge improvement in registration and screen placement from your first go around! 😀 yay!
As always, fantastic! I can't imagine doing this, but who knows? Keep on inspiring the rest of us…
That looks amazing. I cannot wait to see the dress you will make with it..
You made a great print with a fantastic retro vibe! I can't wait to see the dress you're going to make with these!
This reminds me of book spines- I love it!
Very, very cool. I love the seemingly randomness of it all and the colours all look wonderful together. This screen printing thing sounds like FUN!
You're so amazing! It seems so promising. I can't wait to see the finished dress!
I love all the screen printing – you are really making one-of-a-kind garments! 🙂
Wow, you are on a roll. Another beautiful fabric 🙂
Wow, you are an inspiration to the rest of us mere mortals. Not just all your own clothing including undies and tights, and clothing for your family, screen printing too! What will be next? Shoes?!
-Sewingelle
This is gonna look great. I really like the colors you chose and the almost random placement of printed rectangles.
WOW – looks great.
ooh, I love the colors! This is such an exciting project!
That is gorgeous. I'm planning to stamp-print a dress fabric for DD but I'm worried how the paint will hold up in the wash – do you have any experience/opinions on that? (I did a stencil print on a tee once that washed out almost right away). You're very inspiring, as always 🙂 !
Uta; I use Permaset Aqua Textile Printing Ink, and once it has dried you heat set it by ironing for several minutes. It's made here in Australia and is the same ink my mother used to use for screenprinting, so I know it has a pretty good colour fastness… but I will let you know if I do have any problems in the wash 🙂
I love graphic and abstract prints in color so this idea of screen printing is so appealing, but scary. I will follow your adventures avidly. Also that 60's vibe of the dress, kind of a mod style is so cool. back then my mom had a white dress with a single vertical swath of pink/orange/red rectangles that is so similar to the idea of your creation. can't wait to see the final garment.
I love seeing what you accomplish, with your creativity and your eye for color and form. Absolutely inspiring.
Impressive!
A dress? Good, because I thought they would end up as camouflage knickers otherwise! Love your creative screen printing journey. Jo x
http://joeveryday19.blogspot.co.uk
Woohoo!! More screenprinting! This one is gorgeous, I love the colour combination you used.
I'm addicted just watching you. I'm already head over heels with dyeing, and this is just putting me over the edge! Sorry the colors came out so opaque, but I hope it becomes a mod little dress eventually ;).
Wow, Carolyn! Amazing! I am going to live vicariously through your printing experiments. Awesome, just awesome.
I took a screen printing class in high school. We had real photo emulsion for the screens and we got to keep them in a dark room. It was pretty fancy and really fun. I enjoyed it a lot. I bought myself a silk screen kit and dragged it to and from college and finally threw it away the second I moved home with my parents and starting sewing…Typical.
Love your work. Can't wait to see more!
Wow! This looks amazing!! Can't wait to see more
This is the type of homework I would have enjoyed.
Great print.
How gorgeous is that. Love the print and the colours. Looking forward to seeing it made.
Oooh this is so inspirational!
How fun! That will make a rockin' dress or something when you get it done!
It's a very cool print, I really like it! I also like your way of paint mixing. I hate it when I paint and have all that paint leftover to go down the drain…
So beautiful! Can't wait to see the final dress. I think those colors will look really great on you.
Your color sense is great!
I love that you are into screen printing!! Isn't fun? It's something that I hope more sewers will get into. Can't wait to see what else you make.
I have been thinking so much about making my own fabric ever since I found Spoonflower it's killing me!! I'm not much of a digital artist but I'd love to try screenprinting and I've been thinking about it so much that I've even begun to look for kits and tutorials. It must be fate that some of my fav bloggers are doing the same. Go figure!
Love it! I've been wanting to do screen printing for quite some time, and this makes it feel even more urgent. Just found your blog, and now looking forward to seeing more!
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