Thursday 24 March 2016

lino cutting and fabric printing

At the end of February I came down with a horrible chest infection.  I'm still withdrawing from my anti-depressants.  The withdrawal is causing me to clench my teeth so hard that my jaw is agony.  I thought at first it was toothache but the dentist told me it's not.  Along with other ailments like headaches, earaches, feeling sick and dizzy, I think the withdrawal symptoms have lowered my natural immunity and so I caught an infection and it was pretty bad.  I was off work for a week.  

On the second Saturday we had booked a craft class at Locally Produced for You and I was determined to go.  It was another great workshop, unfortunately we don't have any more booked there but I hope she runs some more soon as it's a great workshop space and a lovely shop.

This class was lino cutting and printing on fabric.  The tutor was Anna from Fabritzia Design.  I bought a lino cutting tool at one of the craft shows a few years ago but still hadn't tried it so I was eager to go to this class.



Because I was still a bit ill, I didn't have much creativity in me (I didn't do a single second of craft the whole time I was off work, I was so ill that all I could do was lie down and watch TV and even that hurt!), but sitting watching the others carve their lino, I finally got some inspiration.  My mum had a shopping bag with a kind of splodge pattern on it, that became the stamp on the left.  Then the one on the right just popped into my head.  



The fabric I printed on was actually blue though it comes across as white/grey in this picture.  I used silver ink, light blue ink and a lovely navy ink to stamp.



I left it to try for a week (or more!) and now I just have to iron it to set the ink and I can sew with it.  I'm thinking of making a cushion cover and adding some embroidery and beading.  For the time being it will just sit in my craft room with my other WIPs!

I really enjoyed carving the lino and if I could just get a little bit of free time, I could carve some more!

9 comments:

Chrissie said...

Hope you are feeling heaps better now. Love your fabric, very creative and must be very satisfying watching your unique material grow. How was the cutting out of the lino, was it very hard on the hands? xcx

Rachel said...

So good to hear the workshop coaxed inspiration back to you!

Ellie Foster said...

Dear Wendy
I think your fabric looks really beautiful. It's a lovely pattern in restful colours. If it was a commercially produced fabric, I'd definitely buy some!
Hope you're feeling a bit better.
Best wishes
Ellie

Flickenstichlerin said...

How pretty, love your colors.
Greetings,
Sylvia

Melody said...

So sorry to hear you are feeling so unwell. Love your workshop results. Have a happy, peaceful Easter.

Sandra :) said...

I love that design you did, Wendy :) Is the fabric washable after it's been heat set, I wonder? Not that I need to learn and get addicted to another craft/technique or anything, but this one looks like a lot of fun, and it doesn't appear to need a ton of expensive supplies - a cutting tool, some lino, some paint, and some fabric :D It's fun to pretend I would only buy the basics/minimum, but in reality, I'd be more likely to buy a few bits, then go on an ebay or Amazon rampage and buy a ton of stuff, lol. Do you use regular acrylic paint, or ???

Jane said...

I love this idea of printing on fabric and then using it to make things with it. Hope you are beginning to feel better

Sarah in Stitches said...

I'm so sorry you're not feeling well! Absolutely love what you've done with this fabric. The pattern is so cool! :D

https://tastytextiles.blogspot.com/ said...

Fantastic fabric!