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Question: I would like to know about printing, and how to print on fabric

To start off with there is a page about printing with a roller on the World of Embroidery web site. It also tells how to make a string block for printing.

As it says on the roller printing web page, acrylic paints make good prints, but you can experiment with other sorts of paints and inks as well, and with the special paints sold for fabrics, whatever is available to you.

The roller printing method gives you a monoprint - you make the pattern in the paint on the glass sheet, then lay the fabric on it to print the fabric. There are other methods where you can dip something into the paint and then press it onto the fabric to make repeating or random patterns.

For instance:

Potato printing You cut the potato in half, then use a sharp knife to cut away parts of it to leave a raised area, simple shapes are best, maybe a circle or a triangle. You dip this into your paint or ink and print repeatedly on the fabric - maybe cotton would be a good fabric to try. Obviously, smooth fabrics take the clearest prints, but you can try any kind of fabric and see what it looks like.

Using bits of junk to print with - for instance the end of a cardboard tube, the bristles of a toothbrush, a bottle top with a pattern on it, a piece of corrugated cardboard, cotton reels. You can look at any old thing you have round your home and say 'would this make interesting prints?'

Sponges - I really like printing with a sponge, the natural kind give soft feathery patterns, if the sponge is fairly dry the patterns are clearer. You can also use artificial sponges or foam rubber, and you can cut bits out of them with sharp scissors to leaved a raised area to print with (much like the potato method, but you can cut more complex patterns with foam rubber, and you can wash it and keep it to use again).

Make sure you put some plastic or polythene under the fabric to protect the work surface. Sometimes it helps to tape the edges of the fabric down to make sure it stays flat. Try things out on old fabric until you are happy with the effect.

What other questions have been asked?

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