CRAFT
Elizabeth Harbour shares four imaginative printing techniques to create original pieces for your home
BLOCK-PRINTED WOODLAND LAMPSHADE
Block-printing is an effective way to add graphic pattern using silhouetted shapes with a few carved details. Great for printing lampshade fabric, borders on tea towels and napkins.
YOU WILL NEED
4B PENCIL TRACING PAPER
REFERENCE IMAGES OF AUTUMN LEAVES, BIRDS AND SQUIRRELS
ESSDEE MASTERCUT STAMP MAKING & CARVING BLOCKS 200MM X 150MM X 4MM
SMALL SET OF LINO-CUTTING TOOLS SCALPEL AND CUTTING MAT
1 METRE OF MEDIUM-WEIGHT FINE-WEAVE CALICO FABRIC
25CM DRUM-SHAPE LAMPSHADE KIT
SYSTEM 3 ACRYLIC PAINT (TO MIX MY BLUE, YOU WILL NEED: WHITE, LEMON YELLOW, CRIMSON AND COBALT BLUE)
SYSTEM 3 TEXTILE MEDIUM OLD BLANKET SPONGE/FOAM ROLLER
1 Draw leaves, woodland animals and birds onto tracing paper in pencil, or trace over appropriately sized (5cm+) pictures, simplifying the detail as you go. You will need eight to ten different motifs.
2 Transfer the motifs onto the smooth sides of the printing blocks, leaving enough space around each shape so you can cut them out. You may need several blocks.
3 Place on a cutting mat, then slowly and gently carve (away from yourself ) over the pencilled lines using lino-cutting tools, holding the block steadily with your other hand behind your cutting one. If you’ve not tried this before, practice on a test piece of block first. Start with a V blade to carve around the outline and then carve away the fine details, turning the block as you go. For wider marks, use a 2U blade.
4 Cut out each motif around the very edge of each shape to make individual stamps. Remove any loose carvings.
5 Cut a strip of calico two inches wider than the self-adhesive lampshade panel from the kit. It is a good idea to have scraps close to hand, too, to test the blocks and colour. It might be helpful to use lining paper cut to the correct size to plan a pattern first.
6 Make a fabric ink in a clean jam jar. To make this blue, mix six teaspoons of white, four teaspoons of cobalt blue, one of crimson and one of lemon yellow with 1:1 textile medium.
7 Place the ironed calico on a smoothed-out blanket on a flat surface and the printing block, pattern side up, on a sheet of newspaper.
8 Spoon two teaspoons of ink onto a plate and lightly cover the roller until it makes a wispy sound. Roll lightly over the block and print onto the fabric, pressing down firmly. Continue printing the motifs in the same way, maintaining a 1cm-3cm space between each, alternating the way each one faces, until you have covered the fabric.
9 Allow to dry and follow the fixing instructions for the ink and then
