10.3.21

Printing Fabric

Last year I was able to attend a block printing workshop at Woven Stories.  It was such a fun thing to do.  We started by selecting 2 m of fabric from the shop front. We then examined the blocks on offer and tested out our selections of fabric, blocks and paint on some scraps, before settling down to the business of printing fabric.  The classes are run by Liz, at the back of her shop, and she creates a lovely relaxed environment to pass on her block printing wisdom.  Of course, it was all the more fun because I got to share the experience with sewing buddies Sue of Fadanista and Megan of Meggipeg.  

Sue chose to use a single block and set out to create a border print.




Megan chose two different fabrics, and used the same combination of block and paint on each of them.  You can see her second fabric choice at the side of my fabric photo, next one down.




I was a lot more random in my choice of paint and block.  Doing a workshop is a great way to try out something without having to buy all the gear.  Turns out, block printing is not really my thing.  It didn't take me too long to get bored, so by the end I was just slapping down blocks and paint trying to get it done already.  Luckily, Woven Stories stocks a great selection of (already) block printed fabric!



Here is my fabric after I took it home and washed it.  Quite a bit of the colour washed out, so I am thinking that I did not take enough time with the heat pressing step before washing.


Next was to find a suitable project for my fabric.  I decided to continue my journey of new experiences and chose a pattern from one of the Japanese sewing books that I have owned for years and never used (it was published in 2010 and I think I bought it in 2011).  I bought my book in Japan, so it doesn't have an English title, but after a little bit of sleuthing, I have found a link to the same book on Amazon.  My top is made using pattern C1.  I chose to use wider elastic in the cuffs than the pattern suggestions.  The base fabric has a width of 120 cm, and surprisingly, I had to scrimp to get this top out of my 2 m.  



Of course, we then had to meetup to see how everyone had used their fabric.  Sewing outings are the best outings.  























2 comments:

Megan O said...

It really was so much fun with my sewing buddies and Liz of Woven Stories was hilarious and a great teacher!

sue said...

Lovely post Katherine. I really like your top and enjoyed the whole process from start to finish!