Fabric Printing

This is something I've been wanting to do for a long time! Ever since I saw MadMim's hand printed Scout tee back in november. At the end of March, a friend of mine conveniently announced her first stamp making workshop, and I just had to go. It was wonderful! At first we were a bit hesitant about what to make, but once we got going the creative juices started flowing. Ineke, the girl who gave the workshop is very creative and talented, I loved her wall of inspiration.




More pics of the workshop here. My real purpose was ofcourse to apply this to fabric. It is just so exciting to be able to create your own printed fabric! And I wanted to venture into woven fabrics, I've been mostly sewing with knits so far and it's time I expand my knowledge of fabrics. I bought three pieces of lightweight cotton and a natural knit to test my stamp dye on. I have two kinds, one that needs to be ironed and one that just needs to dry. I was surprised to see that the non-iron one held very well. I would prefer that one because the other one instructs to iron for 2 (!) minutes, and not every fabric can take that. In fact, I don't think any fabric can take that. My fabric started discolouring after 15 seconds anyway. So now I can start thinking of design/colour combinations. I would wear all these three colours. I've never worn this salmon pink before, but it suits my skin tone. These are my favourites.



Yes I know, I've put a bird on it. But I still like them. I tried fish but it's just not as cute (ooh the dirty c-word). The black did not get through the wash very well, but maybe this faded look is not so bad. I'd love to have the grey and pink ones as a shirt, but they wrinkle so badly. Maybe I should get a decent iron. The blue one is not an option, it faded after one wash. What combos/stamps do you like? Any experience with hand printing fabric? Do you have a favorite method?

P.S. I'm so sorry, but I won't be able to make it for this months Pattern Magic Project. It has been very busy with work lately and I've been catching up with friends a lot because I started to become a hermit. I'm hoping to get it done for next week though, please bear with me!