Nature in Disguise - Week Two

This week's task was to use the photos we took last week to trace off images for development using tracing paper and fineliner. We also looked at cutting our photos and collaging them with other photos.

This week the lecturer's showed us a technique called devore. This uses devore paste which is put directly onto the fabric and it eats away at the natural fibres in the fabric. This means that you have to use a specialist devore fabric which is a natural/manmade blend.

The finished product is a half sheer half solid and is a beautiful effect.

Nomad - Week Seven

This week was our extra week of preparing grounds as we are ahead in the schedule as most of us finished the Print Design in one week.

This week I got to use the heat press to put the heat transfer paint onto my fabric. For this it is best to use synthetic fabric rather than natural. A poly cotton blend is ideal.

The fabric I used had a shiny side to it and I think it was a poly cotton however I had bought it from the remnants bin of Remnant Kings and those aren't always labelled with what they are but I have kept a small piece to allow me to identify it if I ever want to use it in the future.

I also made another watercolour background. I think I prefer those backgrounds to the ones from the heat transfer as the heat transfer can end up being really bright and bold whereas the watercolours are more subtle than that.

Others in the class started printing this week but next week is the October week and I don't think it would be wise to make up pigment dyes until after the holidays. They should last longer.

Pigment dyes tend to go a stiff lumpy texture when left for a while especially if they have white in them. This tends to be the same for Expantex, metallic dyes and others. This also makes them more likely to clog up the screens after prolonged exposure so generally this means washing the screens out more often in order to keep the image as intact as possible.

Expantex is something which creates a raised surface when heat is applied after printing. It's generally a white, creamy colour.

Bobbi Jean Shields
Quintessential Designs

Nature in Disguise - Week One

We went on a trip to Ayr where we visited the Morton Young and Borland lace mill. It was cool. The college organised a bus to take us there and the mill itself was in a small lane that was filled with factories

We started off in a reception room in the companies samples of lace including their lace wallpaper and lace tiles which I thought were really amazing. Morton Young and Borland have collaborated with Timorous Beasties in the past whom are a Glasgow based interiors company. Incidentally Timorous Beasties also have provided our college with wallpaper which we use for a variety of things: Desk protectors, trialling print samples etc.

We walked across the factory and got to see the hundred year old machines and the cards used to make the patterns. Each card is just one row of stitching. It was fascinating to see the process behind making the lace.

Then we saw the team of mostly women who darn every flaw in the lace. It must take them hours to fix. There were only about 10 women in the darning rooms when we were looking around. One woman looks for the flaws and put red stickers where they see any then the others darn each part of the lace where there are stickers.

We went up to the design room where they showed us examples of Madras lace and Scottish lace. They then showed us how they out the lace onto the computers using photoshop. I would love to have the opportunity to work with Photoshop the way they do. It looks so amazing.

We were given the day off today in order to take photos for our MYB lace project with the theme nature in disguise.

First I went to the River cart and took pictures of a mini waterfall section next to the old mill which serves as a hotel called the Watermill. I made sure not to fall in! but I got right up close to the waterfall itself.

I then went to a neighbours back garden which has overgrown into almost a forest and took pictures there. The neighbour in question is 96 and she planted the trees almost forty year ago. She is such a sweet lady but when she was younger she did some amazing things including building 6 houses. Not bad eh?

In addition I visited the local park and took some photographs there as I was passing by. I seen some interesting plants there and since taking the pictures I keep seeing similar plants everywhere.

I ended up with eight hundred to a thousand photographs and I have to cut it down to ten by Wednesday but I am confident that I will have some good marks that I can take into fabric.