Archive for the ‘Stencils’ Category

I’m really enjoying the stencil thing and am getting much quicker at producing them. I drew, cut and printed this one in a few hrs last week including cutting out the skirts and all! This one is going on the back of the blue blossom fabric which I posted a few blogs back. They should be ready end of next week, definitely in time for the Northside Makers Market but not for the Thread Den.

Spent the day printing the backs of skirts. These will be behind the green fabric from 4 posts back. Made more mediums and larges this time because they always sell out first. Hungry now…

Today I have been printing backs of skirts with the milk stencil. Ive done about 25 in all and I think that will be the extent of it as the stencil has given up the ghost.

Watch out for the ‘limited edition’ Milk skirts.

There is a sense of relief because I am ready to move on to the next thing in the way of stencils, but also this reality is driving me towards the silk screen. Printing is so satisfying because you can see the result immediately.

I’m finding out how difficult it is to photograph a black skirt!

I’ve tried my best to show you this inky black denim skirt with the stencil on the left back panel but in the winter light I have found it very difficult to get it to look good.

The stencil looks well defined and the hem at the back drops to give the skirt an elegant flow.

My intention for this stencil is to print it on to a plain denim back panel and cut the front panel from some printed fabric. My problem with this was that this denim bled terribly when it was washed, so I made plain black front panels for these.

I will still be using the original idea so stay posted for photos of the end product. I think they will look quite good.

Also……I had my second ever ’skirt party’ on Saturday last to which I took the first round of Bird Skirts (more photos in an earlier blog).

I was a little surprised to see how popular they were, in fact all but one were sold! I will definitely be doing some more of those in the weeks to come but they will probably be in denim rather than cord as I’m busting to move out of winter and into spring.

No blogging for the last couple of days because I’ve been busy cutting skirts and stenciling………..

I flicked through a craft mag that recommended stenciling with a flat bristle brush. So, two dollars and a new stencil with fewer fiddly bits later, I have produced something I am very happy with! Yay, now I can move on to cutting out my new skirts for spring with the fabric I bought from ‘amitie’.  My plan is to use the patterned fabric on the front and denim on the back with a stencil on it. I have been toying with the idea of putting the stencil on a denim patch pocket on the front but I don’t like the idea of covering the patterned fabric.

Well now I’d love to be able to tell you that I’m a natural for this sort of thing and that the printing of my very first stencil went off without a hitch. But I can’t. There was a fair bit of bleeding. I could maybe put it down to the high tech kitchen sponge I used and my poor technique, but maybe Bonnie was right too when she suggested screen printing. Yes probably. It is likely that screen printing is better suited for fabric while stenciling good for hard surfaces. Really should have done that course! All the same I’m going to have another stab at it . Maybe if I do a smaller stencil with fewer skinny bits in it I might get the effect I want.

So now I’ve been inspired by some local graffiti artists who do exquisite stencil work. A few months ago I saw an ABC documentary about Miso and Ghostpatrol who do graffiti around Melbourne and I was particularly impressed by the drawing skills and the beauty of the work by Miso. Watched her casually construct a stencil a couple of metres high and apply it to wall in the middle of the night. Her images are sensitive and unpretentious, and maybe even conventional, which makes them stand out as graffiti. So finally at 6am one morning a few days ago I took scalpel to stencil sheet to have a go at doing my own. I plan to whack these on to skirts somehow if they work!!