Finished Fabric
Here’s the finished fabric that arrived yesterday and the original drawing. Looks pretty great!
7
September, 2011
31
August, 2011
Collaborative Art – Digital Style
Last night I taught a mini class about digital printing on fabric. I do an overview of the basics (resolution & ppi, colors, how to make your art digital), show how everything works over at Spoonflower and then we did a project together. I do talk about other print on demand services as well, but I think Spoonflower is the most user friendly and has the most cool built in features, so I demonstrate with that.
I am calling this one “Classy Leaves”. I passed around a piece of paper with a grid on it. Everyone had the instruction to draw a leaf in a box, add a little color and pass it on to your neighbor. I gave everyone a black pen and about 5 colors of colored pencils so we would have a coordinated color scheme. Once we finished drawing, I scanned it, cropped away the white edges and we uploaded it to Spoonflower. This is the “mirror” layout that my class liked best.
The best part is that I gave each student a blank envelope and had them self-address it. I have ordered some of this fabric and plan to mail everyone a swatch when it is done, so they can see their work. I like his project because there is no graphics software (ie Photoshop) involved in getting the art, rather, the art making part is “low tech” colored pencils. I think this helps make the “high tech” part of the process more approachable.
I teach a follow up to this class in December where everyone does hands-on sample projects with their laptops – first making a “quilt label” (single and repeating pattern) and then I think we will do one with a manipulated photograph.
29
August, 2011
Updates
I just updated my classes page with all the places I am teaching so far this fall. Join me for one of these classes!
- Digital Fabric Design, Tuesday August 30, 6-8 pm at Textile Center
- Photo Help, Tuesday September 27, 6-8 pm at Textile Center
- Embroidery: Elements & Effects, Wednesday October 19, 6-9 pm at Darn Knit Anyway, Stillwater MN
- Etsy from the Inside Out, Thursday November 17, 6-8 pm at Darn Knit Anyway, Stillwater, MN
- Digital Design: Making Fabric Labels, Tuesday December 13, 6-8 pm at Textile Center
22
August, 2011
Shout Out
It is finally the last week of camp at the Textile Center and I thought it would be fun to give a shout out to some blogs and books that have helped us out this summer.
Pippa & Rascal Softies Pattern – These cute little stuffed animals were the jumping off point for 2 classes in designing their own stuffed animals. It was great to be able to show them pictures and the pattern pieces that went with them and the simple rectangle body shape is easy to make in to almost any animal.
Cute Stuff by Aranzi Aronzo – This one has been a favorite for years. Great simple projects that can be sewn by machine or by hand and the instructions are easy for kids to follow on their own when they have finished something early and need another project.
Sew What Skirts – Another perennial favorite. We have done the a-line and wrap skirt this summer.
101 One Yard Wonders – You already know I love this one. This is the “go to” book for a couple of classes where we just have the kids show up with a yard of fabric on the first day and then pick something from the book.
ZipIt.etsy.com – My absolute favorite place for zippers for the ever popular zipper bag project. Her prices are amazing.
Knotted Headband @ You Seriously Made That? – We loved this project. We sewed the ribbon on the ends of ours (I have a rule about no glue in my classes), but the girls loved them.
25
July, 2011
Summer Camp
I was thinking today that although I talk about it being “summer camp season” around here, I haven’t ever really told you what I do during the summer. I am the administrator/errand runner/substitute teacher/curriculum developer/camp counselor and expert project finisher. Once in a while I am “the teacher”, but mostly I just keep everything running smoothly.
We started out with a one day class making thermofax silk screens.
You make a line drawing and then run your drawing with some special coated fabric through an old-fashioned thermofax copy machine. Magic happens, the screen opens up where the black lines are and stays solid in the other places. Then you can silk screen paint through it. This class made screens that they got to take home and learned how to silk screen on t-shirts and everything else.
The next week we had 6 classes going on: a dye lab independent study, an independent study sewing class, a “dye it and quilt it” class, felting with a neighborhood program and 1 day of “5 Centers Camp”. The independent study classes both have a goal of a finished something by the end of the week, but we let the kids figure out what it is.
• Our dye lab gang did batik and shibori and experimented with a bunch of different fabrics, t-shirts and socks.
• The sewing class made everything from a Medieval gown to a pin-tucked tank top to a summer sun dress. They pick the pattern & fabric and we just help them figure it out.
• “Dye it & Quilt It” class got 3 1/2 yards of white muslin. They dye the back and then 7 strips that get cut up in to squares. This class learned 5 shibori patterns and mixed their own colors from red-yellow-blue stock solutions. The grown-ups wield the rotary cutters, then the kids arrange and stitch their squares, tie and bind the quilt.
• “5 Centers Camp” means that the kids go from center to center and do something different each day. We are amazingly lucky to have media specific centers here in Minneapolis. The 5 partners are Textile Center, Northern Clay Center, MN Center for Book Arts, HighPoint Center for Printmaking and IFP (Film & Video). Sounds fun, huh? Our group sun painted bandanas, spun their own yarn and learned kumihimo braiding.
• Kids from the community center camp up the street came down to do a special project with us – felting “geodes” and wool pictures.
Last week we did pajama pants, a vintage inspired class (aprons, knitting, embroidery, pin cushions), another dye lab class and a skirt making class where they drafted their own skirt patterns!
This week we are:
• making pajama pants (dye the fabric and learn to sew)
• another independent study for sewing (younger students)
• a weaving & spinning class where they will get to spin on a spinning wheel, dye their own fiber, and try three different kinds of looms
• a re-design a t-shirt class. They will over dye and cut apart and re-sew into a new fashion.
And that’s just the classes that happen at the Textile Center. We also did about 15 classes knitting, finger knitting, felting, t-shirt restyles and more at libraries across the metro area.
Whew. No wonder I am tired!
11
June, 2011