berries print

I carved and printed a new design recently, of berries, made up of 2 lino blocks...

 

Camellia card

 

I made this stencilled Camellia print as a card for Mother's Day recently.  This was my process...

 

I photographed then sketched a Camellia plant which was blooming in the garden of our house.

 

I separated my sketch into 4 layers, by choosing the parts I would print in different colours.  Then I traced each layer onto some stencil card and cut out the shapes with a craft knife.

I stencilled each layer onto card, using a sponge and some fabric inks (produced a bit of a blobby effect, rather than using drier paint, e.g. acrylic, and a brush, but I had some nice colours already mixed in the fabric inks, and didn't mind the slightly blurry outcome).

Here are the printed cards (not yet folded) drying on a clothes horse...

...and here's the card I sent my Mum:

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!