On skirts, bleach printing and patterns..

I have been collecting ways and means of mark making and printing on to fabric to help me with the year three curriculum. I also have to admit that I adore printing on fabric. Anything to play with paint and fabric. Anyway, I digress.... I looked at block printing, tie dyeing and then I remembered that I saw this article on the Thread Magazine on printing with bleach.  A wonderfully easy way to change surface pattern and colour and the results are immediate and therefore most gratifying.
I used a pattern which I got from the this page from the Alabama Chanin site.

I cut a 6 piece wide skirt which in retrospect was the wrong pattern for this particular technique though I did want to try to get it to overlap on the seams which you can just about see in this picture.

The idea is to start with a basic stencil and strip the colour away on the knit to expose various other colours and with a dark knit, because so many other colours are used to achieve black, what you get is not predictable which for me is just fine!  I used my trusty silhouette machine to cut out the stencil and then used it to simply dab bleach that has been diluted onto the fabric.... the results are quite interesting.Once I finished I created the skirt and then added sequins and beads to it. Here is what I ended up with ....

I thought I would start the girls off with a t shirt and then move onto other more interesting things...I hope they enjoy this as much as I do! 

Light Layer top

I love this time of year, the light turns slightly golden and there is a nip in the air, the time to layer is here. I looked through my cupboard and realized that it was woefully lacking in the light layer department. Having wanted to make something to help with this I cut out a pattern from Alabama Studio Sewing + Design book. I also wanted to try out this way of embellishing for the Year 3 class.

The pattern in the book for a cover up was a short one which I did not want to use, a bolero. I used the t shirt pattern which had the length that I wanted and since it would not have a fastening in the front I cut down the middle of the pattern and added a few inches for the front facing. I also used a bell sleeve pattern from the book which is nice though rather long (I ended up gathering it up from the side hem a bit.)... I had some of this fabric left from the mountain of t shirt fabric bought on a whim :) A lovely light black with a goldish tint to it. It does'nt have tons of stretch to it which always made to re think using it for t shirts, perfect thought for this project. 

I cut the basic pattern out and then used fabric gathers to accentuate it 

It took me a few nights in front of the TV and at little miss's ballet class to get this done but it feels lovely to wear, more than just because I made it! It feels special. One last look at my current favorite make... More of this on the way. 

Summers gone...

It's fall. The leaves on the horse chestnut trees that line the street where we live have turned in color. There is definitely a nip in the air and I have come out of sewing hibernation, which only seems to happen to me in the summer. The family holiday was amazing, Aziz my brother's wedding was lovely and I fit into the Shalwar! Hurray.

It was brilliant to be surrounded by friends and family and simply enjoy this wonderful occasion.

Our friend had a significant birthday party while we were out in Lanka as well, so glad we were there for it. A wonderful affair organised on the beach, so what if a bit of rain came our way :) Especially lovely for the Mr and me to catch up with all our friends, we both miss the social aspect of life in Sri Lanka and our friends very much.

Back to life in the UK and school has started as has work. Little miss started in reception, a hard time for me and she is already showing signs of loving it. Master A is now in Year 2, I cant believe it!

New classes at Langley and more connections to be made for me. The third years continue with lots to crack on with and learn this year. We cover more zips and fastenings and I have the lovely task of teaching them about mark making on fabric and some fabric printing. Having thought through the curriculum more, I have decided to keep to simple designs and processes. We will be covering block printing and prints using basic stencils only. We can work on more complex designs using embroidery and fabric manipulation. More on that later...

Students leaving and the end of term

Almost done for the term. This year has felt like it has rushed by me. I had a moment to day when I stopped and watched my year 8's sewing. They were almost professional in their attention to the project at hand. No more do I hear " miss, how do I _____?" Projects are being planned, implemented and executed with a few looks in and nods from me. Did I ever think this day would come?  The projects are varied, a patchwork quilt to remember her sewing class (she leaves us at the end of the term), a t shirt with a woven collar, (collar designed, drawn and cut and sewn by her!) a door stop to match a redone room (colors and textures are being considered), a wall hanging with lots of personal memories tied into it (Paris!). I love that they customize and make each project their own. This is why I teach.
The second class was tinged with sadness, one of us leaves today, her last class. We shall miss her. The class gets reshuffled and new students join us. Happy to almost be at the end of the term. Sad to see some of them go. Almost all have chosen to do Textiles, something that makes me smile more.

Look what landed on my door mat!

Pretty things off the fabric swap :) 

Thank you to all my swappies for the amazing fabric. I don't know what I am making with it but it's going to be awesome. 

Simplicity K2588

I love this pattern, it is as simple to make as it appears and honestly I don't find that true of many patterns. Those instruction sheets sometimes do my head in. This one had me puzzled but not in a 'tear my hair out' way. More in a 'hmmm lets get to work' way which is great. 

I was pushed to make this as I had a workshop participant interested in making it and I thought it better that the head scratching happened before rather than during the workshop. LOL. 

My finished dress...

I  ended up adding a metal zipper, (it was the only 22" zip I had that matched and it was 10 pm!) and changed it to go right to the top of the neck band instead of just under and hand sewing hooks and eyes as instructed. There are lots of features to this pattern that are really great. So many different variations, next time the full skirt... 

Cushions for the kids.

Have been working on so many different projects that sometimes I forget to post about them! Mr R has been working on the playhouse for the kids and I wanted to make some cushions for them. While browsing the interweb I saw a project and I wish I could remember where (this was before the age of Pinterest, sigh)  and I wanted them to have something to lie on as well as sit on. The fabric was from Ikea and is bright and cheerful. I even got the cushions that go into the covers from there! Very pretty they were too!

 They loved them too, which was good. One more to be made and then onto the curtains and other bits and bobs.

Printed fabric

So much fun was had by me on the fabric swap organised by the very talented Lesley of the Maze and Vale
I was blown away by the pictures on the Flikr page of so many talented people. I feel very privileged to have been part of it all. my submissions...

Update. I received my first swap today. WOW. I was blown away. This lady can print! Colette Moscrop is one very talented lady... thank you for this. I don't think my prints were as well done but I am determined to work on them more.

Hand printing excitement.

I received my swap list for the hand printed fabric swap organised by the very talented Lesley Keating, her blog, Maze & Vale is just chockers full of interesting tips and techniques in hand printing. Am just so excited to be part of this. I look forward to spending some part of this half term finalizing designs and working on them. 

  

Doing good

A couple of months ago, a got a email request for a space on the adult 'learn to sew' course. We were doing cushions and Jenny was a great student. She had a background in interiors and had taken screen printing (yeah!) wanted this to translate this into a line of accessories.

Jen at work in her studio.

A very keen student she came in and learnt how to use the machine and left with a cushion that was beautifully made. We did some applique work on this as well (I am very sorry that I neglected to take a picture of it!). The next time she cam back she mad a cushion again only this time with a zipper and we worked on buttonholes as well. I do remember that her cushion had stripes in green and watermelon on a white background and the colours just popped. The end result was a lovely cushion that looked very well made.
She is working on making to sell under the web store name of The Orange Lamp now and her blog follows her story. I love the picture of her first cushion made for her first customer, her daughter!

cushion! 

I know a few of the workshop participants have gone on to  make things to sell which always makes me feel very proud. It's so nice to see people using their skills :) Good luck to Jen, I will be following her progress... If you would like to check out her story, find it here

Central St Martins and Easter.

 Following my printing dreams led me to sign up for a computers for digital print course at St Martins over the Easter holiday.  The new space is AMAZING! a converted grainary building that is literally a two minute walk up the road from Kings Cross. Everything about this place was inspiring... anyway on to print.

Central Atrium with amazing light

Part of the old grainary building. 

I am essentially a screen printer at heart, I love pulling a screen and seeing inks, colors and textures being created. But it's hard to ignore what digital prints have done for the industry. 

We were lucky, in a class that could have had ten, we had four. We also struck gold with the teacher

Laura Baker, http://www.lauraberens.com/index.html was an amazing teacher. A teacher, a working creative artist (scarves and accessories for sale at Liberties and the V&A shop) all this while writing a book about laser cutting. She was inspirational and very practical. My favorite part was how she taught. She gave each of us what we wanted the course, an amazing feat for any teacher to do. 

What have I learned from this? quite simply how to create on a computer and send it off to the printers! I am looking forward to seeing my first work on print. The idea that this can be so simple (no screen, no ink, no mess) is still hard for me to wrap my mind around. One step closer to my dream of print on fabric. Deep breath as I start another term of teaching and trying to create more... 

Busy days

Easter holidays and the kids are home. How much do I love the holidays? We are all so much more relaxed and I love being around them. Miss T is learning to ride her bike without her trainer wheels and doing so well and Mr A has plans to build and hammer and make things, and of course play with the latest addition to our family, flopsy.

He is very cute and cuddly and has such a definite personality that I suspect includes a healthy stubborn streak. He lops out to the garden at full speed if we are there and happily hops about. Having in animal in the house again, reminds me of my own childhood though we always had dogs and not cute little bunnies :) 

On a more personal front I have been working on losing weight and with it of course comes the fixing of clothing! I redid a few pieces that were old favorites to suit me better. Here is one that I loved the print of. The fabric is a lovely flowy (is that not a word?) silk and I wore this lots. I decided that it would look nicer as a shorter more fitted top. I cut the sleeves off at elbow length and took the sides in for a more fitted look.

I then used my trusty overlocker to create sleeve and bottom bands to get a more blousen look. 

I love it and have worn it twice already. Am also working on a batwing top style that is printed in front and a lovely plain drapey knit at the back. 

Have a wonderful Easter...

Inspiration

Or the lack of inspiration is really a bit of a creative killer. It has been a busy couple of weeks, my birthday which really was lovely, thanks to my lovely husband who was taking notes even though I thought he was'nt :)
We went to the theater and stayed over in London and went out to for a lovely chinese meal in the evening with friends. A relaxed Sunday before heading back to pick up the kids and head home to Kent.
Lovely also to have my friend Tania here, in London. I miss my friends and that of course weighs on my mind this week as I try to get back to work!

Work has also been very interesting, the young ladies are showing off their skills more and more and challenging as it is to keep the work and content fresh and interesting for them to keep learning, I do love it.
It of course does mean that I do lots of prep work :) my sewing pile gets larger as I struggle to keep up with it all. As part of my birthday present to myself, I ordered all the books in my Amazon basket :) One of them was this

A very well presented book with lots of images and ideas. I wanted to introduce new ideas and new ways of creative work for this terms sewing. The girls will present their cushions at the end of the term. Some have chosen to work with more with hand embroidery, others with applique. 

Some of the works in progress. The ones on the left are done by the students, on the rights their inspiration...

 I cant wait to see the finished products...