Indian block print

My friend Philippa gave me an old Indian wooden print block last Autumn, knowing my love of hand printing.  I went to visit her last weekend, so I used the wooden block to print onto fabric and made it into a clutch purse to give to her.

 

 

 

 

I inked the block with a bright pink fabric ink I had mixed up, rolled the colour onto the block and then stamped it onto the green lined fabric that I had cut out already to make the purse.

 

This is the finished purse.

doorstop and Lotta Jansdotter

 

I made this doorstop following a pattern in Lotta Jansdotter's book "Simple Sewing".  I didn't print the fabric, it's an African fabric I bought in Dalston Market.

I like Lotta Jansdotter's work and have 3 books of craft projects by her.  She makes printed textiles, and you can see a good demo of handmade printing, "Stencils and Yams", by her with Etsy on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pnu0AsoPJb0

I like the simplicity of Lotta Jansdotter's prints and her sewing projects are also easy to follow.  It didn't take long to make this doorstop, which is just what I needed in our new house, and is made up like a saggy box - 4 sides, a bottom and a top with a handle, all stitched together, and I filled it with rice for the weight.

You can see Lotta's work on her website, and she also has a blog which you can go to from the link on her website: http://www.jansdotter.com/

house print

I made a small lino carving of 2 houses and tried printing it today.  I'm not happy with the result, but I might try carving houses again and see if I can improve the design.

 

button purse

I made a simple button-fastening purse, using my shell block-printed fabric.

First I cut out 3 pieces of fabric - for the purse, the lining and the button catcher.  Then I sewed the bottom of the fabric and lining together and pinned the button catcher upside down on the top of the right side of the outer fabric.

 

 

I folded the bottom of the fabric to the height that I wanted the purse to be (the top with the button catcher pinned on it will be the flap), then folded the bottom of this fabric into an M-shape, with the lining on top of it, to make the purse wider at the base.  Then I folded the lining fabric on top again, up to the button catcher and sewed it all on 3 sides, leaving a gap to turn it inside-out.

I turned it inside-out and top stitched across the gap, and finally added a button by hand.

Thanks to http://www.liaspace.com/2010/
05/tutorial-simple-lined-pouch.html whose online tutorial I adapted the instructions from.

Kiran Ravilious

While surfing the internet recently, enjoying looking at hand printed textiles, I came across the inspiring artwork and blog of Kiran Ravilious.

I think it's not allowed to reproduce people's online photos without permission, so I can't show her work here, you'll have to visit her blog: http://blog.kiranravilious.com

Kiran hand prints lino blocks onto textiles and sells cushion covers, bags, children's clothes etc. on Etsy.  The lino blocks are beautifully carved designs which seem to take inspiration from organic forms.  I also like her post about her studio in a lovely shed in her garden.  Check it out!  As I mentioned - very inspiring!

clasp pouch

Well, I finally got around to making a finished clasp pouch, as I learned on the bag-making course at Morley College last autumn (I made a couple during the course but hadn't quite got it right until the end and didn't have time to finish off the final pouch until now).  I had the pattern pieces for 3 bags, and now have finished one completely...

 

First I cut out the pattern and marked on it where I was going to sew, using the clasp to check where to stop sewing the base of the bag together.

 

I also sewed the lining and a piece of calico together (the lining is a thin muslin so I backed it with some calico)...

... and mitred the corners of the lining and bag material.

 

Here's the finished pouch.  It's about 6 inches wide.  Aside from help in the bag-making course at Morley, I also followed the guidelines of this great online tutorial to make the bag:

http://u-handbag.typepad.com/uhandblog/2006/12/purse_frames_de.html

I haven't included full details here of how I made this clasp pouch, but if you go to that tutorial, it has great guidelines.

box set edition

Every year at East London Printmakers, we make an edition of about 50 prints (42 this year), which we then divide into boxes with sets of one of each of the 42 members' prints in each box.  Here is how I made my edition of 50 prints...

 

 

I decided to make a linocut and print it at home.  I made a two-colour print - the background is a blend of red and yellow, and the foreground is a landscape of a churchyard (based on a photograph I'd taken).  The prints hanging in the window are test prints (not the final edition).

 

We just moved house in October, hence the stripped walls in the background of this photo.  I'm printing at the table and hanging the prints from a clothes horse to dry.

 

I printed the lino using a baren (a flat disc designed for printing by rubbing the back of paper on top of an inked block), but you could use a wooden spoon.  Two handy hints I learned from Nick Morley for printing with a baren: put some greaseproof paper under the baren to stop the paper from moving as you rub the back of it and also to prevent scuffing the paper with the baren; then, 'lock' your elbow to make a strong straight forearm to rub the print with pressure.  It's impossible to reproduce the effect of a press when transferring the ink by rubbing the back of the paper by hand, but I got some decent (though varied) prints among the edition of 50!