Textiles Workshop

Textile Backgrounds and Prints

This background was done by black ink, for the rough look i scratched into the ink with a tool.

For these pieces I did  Batik with the hot wax; Firstly I spilled hot wax onto my cloth piece to create a 'splashed' effect, i then proceeded to colour the background with the ink colours,then dried the cloth with newsprint. Once my design was dry on the drying rack i ironed the material under numerous newsprint sheets to get rid of the wax that had dried.

For this print i used the screen printing, on top of the rough ink print. The screen print didn't come out as I expected it, so i kept it as i could use as a messy background for another attempt to print on top of it. 

For this print i kept it as the inks, i used all the bright colours inks and placed them in strips after i places all the colours in lines i used a tool in the shape of a scraper. I used this to scratch all the materials together, blending them in between too.

For this one i used a rubber tool on top of the red ink i had chosen. The tool i used created a wallpaper print effect, so i left this one without printing on top of also.

For these prints i used batik on paper, firstly i used batik and drew around on it too without the tool. After doing this i washed lots of colours on top to create this finished result.

 For this design we did wool weaving for the first ones (above) we first layered white wool strips sideways in the same direction. I then placed the next colour on top in the opposite direction, creating my pattern. After placing all the wool we sprinkled soapy water over them dampening them. after this we placed the mess on top and rolled them up in bubble wrap, after rubbing and rolling the wool for plenty of minutes once the wool was no longer able to pull away. it was done. After this i rinsed under cold water to get rid of the soap suds and placed on the drying rack.

I did the same for the next designs but left out the white under layer, this made my designs too think as i hadnt placed enough wool to make it thick enough.

For these we used lots of mushed up paper that had been soaked in water overnight, causing a sloppy porridge like texture. the get the shape we used mesh canvases where we put into the papery water and swished around until a layer of paper was on top, draining the water through the mesh we then placed the paper pieces onto a sheet. We could do different shapes and add different things beneath by building layers, This is what i did for the picture below. I used 2 layers for the first layer i did the basic paper mold, then places pieces of wool on top, and added another later above it to create the textured 3D effect. 

This is one of the screen printing canvas's i used to print onto my sheets. This pattern was one i used on a few mesh and paper pieces. The design is created to look like the wing of a bug e.g. dragonfly. In order to do screen printing we placed a thick line across the end of the canvas and with the paper/sheet i want to print onto is on the underneath. When the ink is  there it is recommended to do it as quick as possible as the ink can dry on the board really fast, making it harder to print and wash. To print i used a wooden scraper through the ink making sure i applied enough pressure going down hard from the top to the bottom of the canvas. 

This was one of the ink tubs  i used for most of my prints, i preferred to use the colour black as i thought this made the prints bold and look better.

 For these designs i added to them by using the screen printing canvas's. I printed with the screens on top of the first background colours i had made. i used black as i liked the bold colour being on top a light background.

                                           

For this design i printed on top of the paper sheets i had created, i used 2 colours on the screen print to produce this design. My design fell apart as the paper was too thin. this i what was left.

For this piece i printed with a softer colour which didnt take to all the colours on the tie dye, but worked better within the lighter colours. I used a dark orange on the board, but made a more darker dirty orange when on the cloth. 

This is a piece of mesh material i used to print some of my designs onto  by using a white paste, (insert correct term) When i used this paste and drew my design onto it i applied very hot air to it with a paint stripper dryer which was extremely hot and if left in the same area for longer than a few seconds it burnt the netting material. With the heat applied it caused the white paste to raise into a popcorny feeling effect and turned white. The colour could have been changed by adding ink, but this wasnt always the best combination to use.

                                           
                                     
                                       
                                                         Health & Safety

> When using the paint stripping dryer, make sure no contact is made with the skin as instant burns and soreness of the skin may occur if heat is applied to skin.

> Prevent holding the paint stripper too close to the material for a longer amount than required as the material can be burnt or cause the material to set afire, this could also cause serious harm to yourself or others if not prevented.