Surface Design on Clothing

Surface design on simple garments, like tank tops, is a great way to combine creativity and practicality. (..and...if it does not go according to plan, you have not wasted a lot of fabric) Lately, I have been creating a few new summer tops. This grey jersey has a lovely feel but it is a little boring so why not dress it up with some stencils, paint, thread and maybe even a few beads.
With this top, I started by drawing the pattern outline shape so that I would have some guidelines to work within. I used stencils I designed and cut myself
(I used window film to make the stencils, you can see how I do this in an earlier post here )

I used a stencil brush to apply the textile paint. The fabric is pinned onto a piece of foam core to keep it from slipping about and also provides a good surface for stenciling

Once I had completed stenciling, the paint was heat set with a hot, dry iron to make it permanent. Next I began adding some "outline" stitching.
With the hand stitching done, I then cut out the top and partly assembled it because I wanted to add a few beads and did not want them to be in the way as I machine stitched the shoulder seams, neck and armhole bands. I left the side seams open for easy access allowing me to continue with hand stitched details and beading

I tend to do the hand stitching and beading in the evenings while watching TV ( Netflix) A piece of felt glued into a small margarine lid makes a terrifically portable beading tray.

I have more of that same grey jersey, so this time I am adding dots. Now, because it would be rather difficult to hand cut consistently perfect dots, I used a commercial stencil for this.

This time, I cut the top out prior to stenciling. I stay-stitched the neckline and armholes to keep the bias edges from stretching out of shape while I manipulate the fabric.

In order to make sure the dots would flow nicely across the bottom, I stitched one of the side seams partly closed near the lower edge to ensure that stencil design would be unbroken

I will post the finished top once I get back to the sewing machine.

Rather than putting up a separate post, this one has been updated to include a photo showing how this top with the stenciled dots looked once completed (with a close up of the stitch detail)

Its in the Details

Recently, I have been playing with some ideas of adding details to garments I make. I tend to wear a LOT of black (there is not much in my wardrobe that is not black) but lets face it, black can be boring. I LOVE to hand stitch with interesting thread, so I thought why not try it on my clothing.

Of course, if you know me, you will know that I have to do more than thread a needle. In this experiment, (just a test sample for now)  I wanted to see if I could create a subtle print on black and then add thread.

I began by drawing an overall print

I created a stencil with freezer paper

Next, the stencil was ironed securely in place to a piece of lovely rayon knit fabric and brushed with discharge paste. This has to be done quickly as the freezer paper will become saturated if you take too long... it must be removed. As I found out rather quickly, I will want to secure the fabric in some manner next time as the "stretchy-ness" of the knit made removing the stuck down freezer paper without disturbing the design, just a wee bit tricky.  (You can learn a lot by doing little test samples) I also learned that if I want to use this method on a large area, I will want to break the stenciling job into smaller sections to better facilitate the whole process.

Below, is what the design looked like when the paste was dry, but before it was "activated" with the iron.

this next image shows the result of activation and rinsing the remaining product from the fabric.

the hand of the fabric remains unchanged and I am left with a  lovely ghost print to stitch around adding texture and interest.

Something as simple as hand stitching around neck and sleeve bands can add interest, here I used a variegated 12 wt thread and did a double line of stitches.

Selvage edges

Recently, while spending a little time checking out other blogs I came across this one which has great ideas on what to do with those selvage edges. Since I was re-organizing my fabrics anyway I decided to begin collecting all those edges and thinking of ways I might use them. Turns out that since I buy almost exclusively batiks, usually fat quarters, I don't actually have a lot of fabrics with selvages containing text.

Still, I like the idea of seeing the text so I added what I had in the way of black and whites to a vest I was in the process of making.................the selvage edges turn a rather boring piece into something just a bit more interesting. I have a feeling I'll be taking a closer look at the "edges" of future fabric purchases.