Firstly I had to choose the fabrics I wanted to print onto, baring in mind if my sample is chosen i will be reproducing a meter of the chosen sample to be created into a garment for spring/summer 2014. This means the fabric I would do my samples on would have to be light, cool and suitable for warm weather. I decided to mix things up and experiment with different fabrics for my samples so I chose the following fabrics; cotton, azeta, habotai silk and chiffon.
The first fabric's I sampled on was cotton as this is the easiest to print onto, this is because it is thicker than the other fabrics I chose so it is more stable.
This is the first sample I created. On A3 white cotton, I printed my first screen using a pink pigment I mixed my self, as I wanted it pastel pink. I used about 500ml of binder and a small amount of pink pigment. I printed that onto my cotton and put it on the drying rack to dry. Whilst it was drying I washed my screen and squegee, put the squegee back and placed my screen in the drying cupboard. I then used black SN-G to print over the top using my second screen, this was my sample finished, so I placed it on the drying rack to dry.
This is the second sample, yet again on A3 white cotton. Although my colour scheme is monochrome and pale pink I decided to use orange on some samples just to show I have experimented with it. Firstly I mixed a pale orange to print with, I used about 500ml of binder and a very small amount of Orange G pigment. I then printed with my first screen using this orange pigment and then put my printed fabric on the drying rack to dry whilst I washed and dried my screen and squegee. I then printed on my screen with my second screen using Black SN-G. This is my second sample complete.
My next samples I wanted to experiment to make my samples look more delicate.
This sample is using Habatai silk light, I wanted to create a blush effect background to make it look delicate. I did not know how to do this so I experimented, I mixed 300ml of water with 3 spoons of already made procian dye. I then soaked my fabric in this for 1 minute, stirring it slowly to make sure all the fabric got covered, here is a picture of this...
After I did this, I covered a wooden board in newsprint and placed it in the drying rack with my fabric dye, this was just to speed up the drying process.I then taped my fabric dow to the print table to prevent my fabric from moving and smudging. I then used the pink pigment I mixed to print my first screen with. Once I did this, I left my fabric to dry and washed my screen and squegee. Once dry I then used Black SN-G to print my second screen on top, although with this being a sheer fabric, it was harder to line up and find where to print my second screen. Using my tracing over the fabric then lining it up helped me a lot during my time in the print room for this project as I used a lot of sheer fabrics. Once i had printed my second screen I placed my finished sample on the drying rack and washed my screen,squegee and my work area to prevent any pigment getting onto my clean fabric for my next sample.
This is the next sample I created, using orange procian dye for the back ground. I then used my first screen to print puff binder onto my fabric, Puff binder would not be suitable for a garment as it would come off after a few washes, but for experimental purposes I created this sample anyway. Once I had washed my screen as puff binder can easily block screen so it is vital you wash it off quickly and correctly. I then used the heat gun, on the second heat setting to puff the puff binder, I did this in short bursts to make sure I did not burn the fabric. I then used Black SN-G to print my second screen. I then washed my screen, squegee and my work space and left this sample to dry on the drying rack.
This sample is on Azeta, this is because I wanted to devore on some samples as I think it gives a delicate look to the fabric. This sample is on plain azeta, I devore'd my second screen onto the fabric and masking taped it hanging from the window sill as the devore needs to dry naturally. I washed my screen and squeegee and my workspace whilst I waited for the devore to dry. Once dry I pressed my fabric using the heat press, This presses my fabric for 20 seconds and 180 degrees this will bind all the fibres together and make sure the fabric is ready for the next step. The next step is washing the devore, under cold water, when doing this I had to rub together the fabric to get rid of the yellowness which is created on the fabric when under the heatpress. I then had to wait for this to dry. After the fabric is dry I then used the same screen as before to print the black SN-G pigment onto my fabric, when doing this I made sure the screen wasn't in line as I wanted to be able to see the devore. I then put this sample on the drying rack and washed up all my equipment and work space.
This next sample is on white muslin. I wanted to experiment with the darkness of the black I used as I wanted to create a more delicate finish to this sample. I firstly printed my first screen in pale pink, the same pale pink I have been using in previous samples. After I had left that to dry and washed my equipment and work space I then used a lighter black, which I mixed using about 200ml of binder and a tiny amount of pigment (Black SN-G), I printed this using my second screen and I really like the outcome, Its delicate and that's what I like about it. I put this to dry on the drying rack and washed everything up ready to create some more samples.
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This sample is on Habatai silk. I used the orange pigment I used in previous samples to print firstly, and then I left my sample to dry, I then washed my equipment and work space. I then used Black SN-G to print my second screen with. I then placed my finished sample on the drying rack and washed up everything.
This is my favourite sample that I have created for this project. I used size A3 Azeta fabric for this sample. Firstly I used my second screen to print devore onto this fabric, I then hung it to naturally dry, I managed my time well as I could use this time to be clearing away the mess on the print table from the devore, aswell as cleaning my screen and squeegee and taking technical notes. After the devore had dried I pressed it with the heat press for 20 seconds at 180 degrees to set the devore. This process makes the fabric go a little yellow, so I then ran my fabric under the cold water tap rubbing vigorously as I do so, This is to get out the yellow. I then put it on the drying rack to dry. After a while I decided I wanted to do something different with this sample, so I soaked it in the diluted red procian dye which I used to create a 'blush' effect on the habatai silk I used before. I soaked it for about 30 seconds, as I didn't know what would happen to the devore. I squeezed out the excess water and left to dry on the drying rack. When I came back to it I was so happy with the outcome, The fabric had turned blush pink but the devore'd part turned a darker pink and it looked really good. I then used the same screen (my second one) to print over the top to make the fabric look a little bit more 'busy' , I did this using Black SN-G pigment. I then put this to dry on the drying rack and cleaned up my space and equipment.
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This is the last sample I created, I created this on chiffon. Using the diluted red procian mix I made, I soaked the chiffon in this for about 30 seconds and put it on the drying rack to dry. Instead of a dark outline and bright shells, I swapped them around. Firstly I used a grey, which i made with a lot of binder and a tiny amount of black SN-G to print my first screen, the chiffon moved easily so I had to masking tape it down and stretch it out a lot. Once I printed that I left it to dry, this took a long time because of the fabric type. Finally once my sample had dried I used a brighter pink which I mixed for my last project (The recipe will be in one of my old blog posts). I used my second screen to print this with, although it did not line up very good because the chiffon kept moving with it being such a light fabric. I then placed my finished sample on the drying rack and cleaned up my space and equipment.
In conclusion I really enjoyed printing for this project, I feel like the effort I put in really paid off. I created these samples during 2 days in the print room. As I did my samples in the days I went into college which were suppose to be my days off I was mainly unsupervised in the print room, I enjoyed this as I feel a lot more confident printing and using the print room alone, and I feel i have built my confidence using different fabrics I have never used before, I have enjoyed experimenting with fabrics and colours.
Thank you for reading
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