There are 14 posts filed in Surface Design (this is page 1 of 2).
…A Knitted scarf, a lava lake Lamp, a lava Box…
I am glad to have been able to use these fun techniques to create surfaces to design objects and wearables.
It was not easy, I must say. There was a lot of effort to be taken in the meticulous works like felting. Also, to translate a surface into a design is something that requires a good eye for detail and being able to process it mentally and visually as a pattern.
This module was of great joy and fun!
I chose knitting, felting and plastic fusing as the three techniques to be used in my final deliverable. To make sure I achieve the desired effect, I tried out the techniques till I got what exactly I wanted. Knitting was the one that had me trying a few times before I hit the style that I wanted, to have the effect of lava.
with the fairy lights !
For knitting, I chose to get yarns that are of lava like colours and combine them to knit. The first few i did was somewhere there, but not accurate enough like the final piece.
The easiest of all techniques, the natural melting of plastic makes it look like molten lava!
Organza fabric, marbles or any other objects to wrap in the organza, aluminium foil, rubber bands, pot with water to boil.
Wrap the marbles and any other objects with the organza and secure. wrap the whole thing in a big piece of aluminium foil. Boil it for about 40 minutes. Let it cool and then remove the objects. Let the water in the cloth evaporate.
This technique is wonderful to create different surfaces that are reminiscent of things in nature such as the waves, bubbles and so on. It is very useful in making unique attires i would say.
Awesome field trip to the factory outlet of Touch and Print. We got to learn so much about transfer printing.
We got to see live demonstrations of how they do the heat transfers in the professional way. We learnt many tips as well.
Velvet fabric, Fibre etching fibre remover gel.
Apply the fiber etching gel on the velvet cloth and let it dry. You can use either a silk screen or paint the pattern directly on the velvet. Once dried, the top must be covered with baking paper, apply heat and then brush off the fibre which are now loose.
My piece did not turn out too well, as I left the fibre etch gel that i painted on the velvet, just lying around for a long time. Therefore the end result was not as expected.
Thermochromic ink pigment powder. Clear base. Silk screen. Fabric like cotton.
The thermochromic ink once mixed with the clear base, is ready to be used to print on fabric. A silkscreen must be used to the transfer the ink according to the pattern.
This technique is amazing as it shows us the latest technology in printing with temperature sensitive inks. The ink will disappear when heated up. These kind of temperature sensitive attires can be used in creating many interesting surface like snow flake design. So when the fabric is heated, the snow flake is “melted” and gone. Such ideas can be conveyed through thermochromic printing.
Thread or yarn is looped using two sticks and they create a cloth with looped rows and stitches.
Yarn, Knitting sticks
Knitting requires a particular technique to work. There are a few knitting techniques. I learnt the easiest and will be using that for my work.
Initially I found knitting very hard. It was so difficult for me to knit the yarn with the knitting sticks I had in the beginning. They were thin and long wooden sticks.
After many trials I finally became more comfortable with this technique and realise how knitting allows us to recreate not only pattern, but also textures.
Creating different manipulations on fabric by sewing them. Examples such as smocking, elastic thread and so on create different manipulations
Fabric, Sewing machine or sewing needle, elastic tread and lace, thread.
Depending on the type of pattern we want to create using the fabric, we can use the manipulation of fabric accordingly, either by machine or hand sewn.
This method is very useful when it comes to creating nice surfaces on fabric in a quick manner.
Interconnecting wool to make felt, by condensing and pressing fibres together.
Natural fibres such as wool or synthetic acrylic felt/wool. felting needle. styrofoam pad.
Wet felting: Use warm water and soap to connect wool fibres by agitating it in a gentle circular manner.
Dry felting: Constantly prick the layers of wool with a felting needle to connect them.
Combining both method is possible too. It makes the felt tighter and more firm.
Felting is an amazing technique to create almost any texture and pattern. It can be used to make very fine details or even very abstract big pieces. Any colours of wool can be used to felt together.
To apply one kind of fabric on another
Different kinds of fabric. Unconventional fabrics can be used too.
Use either a machine or hand sew fabric of kind on fabric of another kind.
This technique allows you to recreate surfaces that has more than one kind of textured pattern.
