Part Two: Project Five – Stage Three

Printing and painting on fabric:

All three fabrics have given varying experiences and outcomes obviously because the weave and fibre content is different for each fabric. The cotton lawn has a tighter weave and is of course very suitable for smocking and compact stitching. The textile ink did not give a clean impression which was possibly because of the use of nylon lace as a stencil. An application of ink by a sponge left a less than pleasing imprint however ink on top of ink suggested that the idea needs further exploration and could be visibly satisfying when using complimentary colours. The pattern on the lawn needs more negative space to accentuate the design.

The curtain material was a synthetic and a very open weave which resulted in more of the ink remained on the under plastic cover than on the surface of the fabric. This in itself would seem to have possibilities if the bottom surface could be utilised to demonstrated its own pattern.

The silk was smooth and accommodating for the textile ink and complemented the manufactured pattern in the fabric. It was simply a case of blending in with the pattern on the silk and in the open spaces. Shapes were an obvious inclusion as the silk pattern was floral in nature.

It was a case of trial and error to find out which of my ideas worked in practice. Sometimes the work looked better from a distance rather than up close where all the imperfections were noticeable.