Stamping and Stencilling on fabric friday

hand painted fabric, a photo by Quilt Routes on Flickr.

This is an old one, but I don't think I have shown it here before.

Making Stamps for Fabric Printing.

Last week I showed you this.

It is a piece that I show in my talk and because in the next few months I will be talking to some groups who have members that I know have heard me before in other venues, I thought it would be a good idea to get it finished.

Before I do anything else to it I wanted to share with you how I made the stamps from the styrofoam pizza bases. There always seems to be a lot of them around here.

I got the designs from a book I brought back from Brunei called 'Hornbills and Dragons' by Bernard Sellato. It looks at the designs found in Kalimantan, Sarawak, Brunei and Sabah which are the countries that make up the island of Borneo. 

The designs have very convieniently been displayed in clear black and white graphics.

I scanned the images into the printer, resized them, and printed them out. Using the printout as a guide I used a sharp pointed pencil to engrave an outline of the image onto a piece of pizza base.

I then carved out the stencil using a soldering iron. You have to be quick or you end up with a big hole and you HAVE to work in a well ventilated area because of the fumes given off by the styrofoam.

I glued the designs onto another piece for stability and strength.

This method allowed me to get some very intricate designs made into a stamp, quickly and easily. If a mistake was made it was no bother to just start again on an inexpensive pizza base.

As with any culture the designs have a lot of history and meaning for the indigenous tribes of Borneo, many of who still live in the traditional long house.

The designs can be seen in all sorts of crafts such as carvings, paintings, textiles and basket weaving,

even tattoos.

Stay tuned to see what I do next with this piece.

fabric friday

Not ready to give up on those blue Summer skies just yet.

 Available here.

Busy,busy

I have begun to put some new kits together and here is a sneak peek.

Things have been a bit slow, as those of you who read my blue hare blog will know, because a kitchen fire this summer has slowed the creativity a bit.

However, in an effort to get things moving again I have joined the Blogtoberfest, commiting myself to blog every day of October. You can join in at any time if you fancy the challlenge.

On the Quilt Routes front I have decided it is about time I got around to stitching this piece.

I use it to demonstrate stamping when I give my talk, which involves looking at different ways of painting and printing on fabric. I made the stamps for this using pizza bases (details to come later) and when I say bases I don't mean the dough base but the packaging base. I have to clarify this because I was once asked how I stopped the paint from breaking up the dough!

Stay tuned.

Scrappy Journal Part 2

Yesterdays post showed you how I use the paper cloths/towels that I clean up with to create pages from which I made this Scrappy Journal.

The quick and easy cover was made with a mop up cloth folded over some batting, that was stitched around the open edges and then decorated with stamps.

I made six mini books (signatures) and stitched them into the cover.

Each section had been stamped and stitched.....

                                      ....with added pockets and inserts, using up any bits that I had to hand.

I finished off by adding torn strips of fabric to the spine. My daughter thinks I over did it this, but once I had started I couldn't leave any bald spots!

This was very easy and a lot of fun to do.

Lots more photos here.

Scrappy Journal Part 1

NOTHING gets wasted when I do fabric painting. I even save the paper cloths that I mop up with.

I just can't throw away anything that colourful!

I think I first saw this technique in this book by Traci Bautista.

It is so simple and a great way to re-cycle paper cloths that would otherwise end up in the rubbish bin.

It's like creating your own art supplies for free.

This is a quick over view of what I do.

Separate the two layers of tissue that you usually get, and lay them onto a non stick surface. I am using an old plastic tray here.

Using an old wide brush and a mixture of approx. 3 parts water to 1 part PVA glue, flatten the tissue down onto the surface.

I iron the tissue flat first because it is easier to work with. (I avoid ironing my family's clothes if possible, but I am happy to iron used paper towels!!) 

Keep adding layer upon layer of  tissue until you are happy. You can put down blocks of colour or tear up strips to add more interest. You can also cut out shapes or trap things between the layers.

Three to four layers are usually enough, maybe less if you buy the posh stuff!!

Wait for it all to dry thoroughly and then it can be folded and cut up to make pages like these.

They can also be cut into shapes to make a paper quilt.

  These pages have gone into a Scrappy Journal that I will share with you next time.

Autumn Leaves

Summer has given way to Autumn in one fell swoop around here.

With that in mind, here are some ways to produce painted fabrics with an Autumnal feel.

From the top: Positive and negative stencilling. Sun printing. Leaf printing.



Some good strong colours for making appliques.