Author: JON

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Lesson 4: Felting

Felting is done by condensing loose fibres together. Usually the fibres are that of wool or synthetic plastics like rayon.

Needle Felting
Needle felting is done to create little felt balls.  By repeatedly stabbing a notched felt needle into a clump of fibres, a ball will start to form as the fibres tangle.

Felt Dango to the left

 

 

 

Wet Felting

Wet felting is another technique that can be used to create felt. The hot water added and agitation of fibres cause them to clump together, to form a cohesive piece

For best effect, the fibres have to be completely animal fur fibres.

Nuno Felting

Invented by Polly Stirling, it consists of attaching felt to a lightweight material for detailing.

 

Reflection

Stabbed my finger more than a couple of times doing this. A fun but rather labour intensive technique, felting creates warm inviting surfaces that are really comfortable.

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Lesson 3: Thermoplastics and Vacuum Forming

Thermoplastics:

Any thermoplastic material melts under heat then forms crystals when the crystallisation temperature. This allows the material to take on some of the surface and structural quality of the mold it is in.

This was by far my favourite technique as I was able to see a direct transformation in the material qualities of the fabric.

The best material for this would be polyester organza since its high polyester content would allow for more plasticity and it’s lightweight would produce less distortion of the final form.

Firstly, decide attach your moulds onto fabric.

Apply pressure onto the structure.

Followed by application of heat. The crystallisation temperature of organza is 220°C, making it the optimal temperature for manipulating the fabric. Boiling works well too, but requires over an hour. I realised using a hot air gun was another viable option and would only take about 5 minutes.

Vacuum Forming

 

Also relies on the thermoplasticity of the material as well.

Place your object within the chamber.

Clamp your PVC sheet and pull the heating rack over the material.

 

Slide heating rack back (a safety mechanism will prevent you from pulling lever)

Then pull the lever to push your moulding objects into the plastic sheet.

Turn on the vacuum pump once the lever is at full extension.
Flip the switch to pressure to release object mould from the vacuum formed sheet.

 

I did not realise how much force this used until it crushed my metal tin which i was using as a mold.

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Lesson 2: Plastic Fusing

Plastic Fusing utilises thermoplastic bonding to recycle old plastics to create new materials. Simultaneously, it creates interesting new textures and surfaces.

Procedure:

  1. Lay out the plastics on a sheet of baking paper. Pre-ironing the plastics to straighten them out could help in arrangment.
  2. Cover with another sheet of baking paper to prevent sticking.
  3. Apply heat with iron or heat gun. (I’ve realised that heat at around 200°C makes for the easiest fusing)

Using the fused plastic to encapsulate other materials like thread

 

 

 

Leathery surface from an instant noodle packaging.

Plastic Ravioli

 

 

 

Rings cut from drinking straws sandwiched by transparent sheets of plastics

 

 

 

 

 

Reflection:

This is a good method to create durable and flexible plastics while maintaining remaining environmentally friendly. It also brings awareness to the waste created when carelessly throwing out most disposable plastic trash.

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Lesson 1: Transfer Printing

Transfer printing:

There were 3 types of transfer printing taught to us.

 

Dry Indirect Transfer

Apply pattern onto paper using transfer crayon

Sandwich fabric between baking paper to prevent sticking and apply heat using the heatpress, at 130°C (for polyester).

Wet Transfer

Direct :

Paint your objects with transprint ink

Lay them painted side down on the fabric and sandwich them between baking sheets

Apply heat.

Indirect:

Apply transprint ink on paper and let dry

 

 

 

Lay your objects on your fabric and cover with the painted paper.

Sandwich between baking paper and apply heat with heatpress (130°C for polyester).

 

 

 

 

 

Digital Transfer
Utilising a special transfer paper (OBM and CPM from The Magic Touch where we would have our excursion in lesson 6), the paper would transfer the toner onto the material.

TTC is used for light fabrics while CPM is used for smooth hard surfaces.

Simply printing onto it and applying the heat press at 130°C (polyester) would transfer the print.  Although any laserjet printer would supposedly work, my print started to peel away from the paper a few hours later.

 

Reflections:

The techniques taught this lesson would be useful for packaging and directly replicating textures found around us. The high definition transfer of the feather’s ruffles really surprised me

I also realised that it would take a couple of revisions to the settings and a few trials and errors before the samples would turn out the way I wanted.