Sunday 23 December 2012

Ideas for my final project...

My final project for my BA is looming and i've be thinking about which techniques, inspiration and ideas i'm going to take through and develop further. Usually, I take inspiration from natural sources such as birds, trees or butterflies however, for my final project I really want to push this further so have decided to research into skies and skylines. This will involve bringing in elements of man-made architecture such as rooftops, street lamps and headlights. I believe that this contrast of delicate skies and harsh line could create really interesting and innovative outcomes. 


Experimenting in the dye kitchen and with discharge printing 






I have really enjoyed my recent experiments within the dye kitchen, and print room and feel that this will make a good start for exploring techniques and processes. As part of this project I really want to explore the idea of building up pattern, and layers of techniques but in a more sophisticated way. Thinking about the placement of the 'motif' will play a huge part of this experimentation, and is something my tutors have advised me to focus on to create more successful outcomes. 

Here are some initial photographs take from my journey to Norwich and also visiting my Dad on his farm. I really like the idea of bringing different tones and layering colour possibly from using dyes and discharge printing. 


Photographs from my journey to Norwich










Visiting my Dads farm






Experimenting with dyes and discharge printing...

As part of my final third year studies, I really want to get as much out of the textile course as possible and in order to do this, I really want to experiment and learn more about the dyeing process as well as other screen printing techniques. 



I decided that choosing a different selection of fabrics to what I would normally decided to work with, was a good start. I decided that both wool and silk would be a start as these are quite different from the normal fabrics I would choose. 

Using a combination of dyes including Easidyes and acid dyes which are most suitable for dyeing natural fabrics such as wool and silk I chose my colours, taking inspiration from my previous butterfly and moth project. The colours included Easidye hyacinth, Easidye beige and also acid dye navy. For the acid dye I added a level teaspoon of fixative, and as Easidye's already contain this I didn't need to add any. To make up both dyes I used the following formular;

Diluted dye + Fixative (if necessary) + Boiling water 




As part of my time within the dye kitchen, I experimented with different ways of creating resists for tye dye. Examples I used include; stitching, dip dye and tying fabrics with yarn in a traditional tye dye method. In particular I really like the stitching method as this is subtle but effective, I also think it works well alongside other techniques such as the more traditional method. 

After dyeing wool and silk, I decided to experiment with discharge printing as this is also something I haven't done since my first year at university. I really like how the discharge isn't completely white as this adds other colours that I may have not considered beforehand. I particularly like the effects that have been achieved on both fabrics as this shows a comparison in terms on weights of material.  






Overall, I'm really pleased with my few days working within the dye kitchen and print room as feel as if my confidence has really grown with being able to make up dyes for different fabrics, as well as producing lovely effects with discharge paste. 

Tuesday 11 December 2012

Folksy

I have just set up my very own online Folksy shop selling some of my recent prints onto note books. I am really pleased with how my work comes across online and hope to get my name out there using this simple idea of a printed notebook. I feel that my work looks pretty professional in relation to other similar items listed for sale on Folksy within the same price bracket. 


A screen shot of my Folksy shop, lacking stock but you have to start somewhere!



Examples of similar products within the same price range. Overall i'm really pleased with how they have photographed and how well the prints turned out using the different elements of pigment ink, foil and flock.







Wednesday 5 December 2012

Printed butterfly books...

After finishing my first project of third year, I decided that this was an excellent chance to experiment with printing processes further, and also combine this with making cute little Christmas presents!

Initially, I went back to my first drawings from my recent butterfly project and produced new screen designs from these using Photoshop, taking into consideration my interest of using multiple screens to create interesting and new designs. 

Here are some photographs of my printed mini books. By combining elements of black pigment ink, brown flock and also bronze foil, I feel as if I have produced really cute little outcomes. I would really like to use the idea of printing with multiple screens in future textile projects as I feel as this method give really interesting effects.








Printed on the back: Megan Haney Textiles. Hand printed.. With love..








Tuesday 13 November 2012

Experimental prints

As part of my sampling period, I have decided to experiment with playing with sublimation printing on top of a coloured fabric. For this, I have used a synthetic fabric due to these achieving a stronger image when printed.



I'm really disappointed with these two samples, as I was hoping this fabric would take the sublimation print ink better, however, it just turned my designs green. It's a real shame as this fabric contains a slight shimmer as seen within butterfly wings. 



Overall i'm really pleased with how these samples worked out as I think the beige fabric really brings out the colour of the blue. I also feel that it gives my designs a softer edge, compared to the harsh, bright white fabrics I have previously used. 










Wednesday 7 November 2012

Unsuccessful dye session..

After having a tutorial with my tutor regarding my recent collection of designs and fabric samples, it was suggested that I played around with dyeing the fabric before sublimation printing on top. So today i thought i'd give it a go and experiment with a range of different fabrics and see which ones were the most successful. 



My main aim was to dye the polyester chiffon as this is the main fabric I intend to use within this project. However, using Dylon dyes just doesn't work and the cream colour I want to achieve is impossible! The only fabric that was successful, was some kind of cotton mix but I wasn't very happy with the tone of colour as I feel that it's far too orange/yellow.



   Dylon dye in pebble beige (Left) vs tea and coffee mix (Right)


I also experimented with using tea and coffee to see if natural dyeing would be more succesful. This time, the fabric took the colour but when washed, the colour was completely lost due to the lack of colour fixing! To add to this, the tea and coffee didn't give me the correct colour anyway! Might just have to purchase some cream fabric instead!




Monday 29 October 2012

A creative afternoon printing

Today i spent the afternoon in the print room, having fun creating interesting papers using my the same screens as used within my initial fabric samples. 

I'm so pleased with the results as I don't normally use pigment inks within my screen prints, and I am also really pleased with the colours as it's one of the only times i've really done colour mixing with these inks!






Sunday 28 October 2012

More and more and MORE photoshop...

After finding myself stuck in a rut after a far from productive week, I have spent most of the afternoon playing around with tracing photographs from my recent visit to the Zoological Museum, and using these to produce new digital designs using Photoshop. I'm really happy with my newest collection of designs and intend to get them sublimation printed within the next few days!