Handscreenprinted Fabric

There is just so much good fabric being hand printed out there which is really exciting and one of the artists involved in this is Lucie Summers. This is an example of her fabric, in one of my favourite colours - turquoise which she has made up into a lovely notebook cover.

Lucie is very inspirational and I will keep watching to see what she makes next.

Swatch Swop - Dark Turquoise

I have had a really good day today printing the second layer of colour onto my fabric swatch with my Venetian lino block design. The first colour was printed in grey and I decided to print the second offset layer in dark turquoise which is a colour that I associate with Venice.

One of the most important things to ensure when printing a second layer is to make sure the registration is right so that the print all lines up correctly. The method I was using was my own with marks on the lino block and a ruler:

Other things that I found essential were:

Using a firm and even surface to place the fabric onto whilst printing, I placed my fabric onto newspaper and then on a cutting mat. This was clearer than when I placed the fabric straight onto newspaper on the table.

Inking up the block thoroughly and then wiping excess ink off areas that were not going to be printed, this ensured a clean print of my image;

After inking up the block it needs to be printed quickly so that the ink does not dry up on the block and the image you are printing is clear;

Pressing the block down equally and firmly in all areas.

This was the result of the days printing and I was really pleased I shall wait for it to dry and fix with the iron before sending it off to Jesse:

I am so pleased with how my design worked that I may use part of the image and print it onto cards.