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Final Project Experiment

Inspiration: Terrace Field

Images from Pinterest.com

  

  What I liked about the terrace fields include its colorfulness, its layers and the uniform yet organic curves. Both the multi-color and monochromatic color scheme were beautiful and provided countless potential to be exploded. Below were all kinds of experiment I did.

 

Dying cloth with Batik dye:

Unfortunately, the vibrant colors faded away after washing and thus they weren’t further utilized. From what I understood, it could be that the fabric wasn’t 100% cotton.

 

Felting:

 

Applique + Felting:

Besides cutting out layers of felts and hand sew them one by one, I also added some red felt wool to make it more diverse with extra texture.

 

Fabric Medium + Acrylic Paint:

These two were made using plain sheets of white fabric. After mixing up separate acrylic paints with fabric medium, they were poured into a cup without mixing. Instead, the cup was placed upside down on the fabric. Slowly the cup were dragged and moved, and the flowing texture and colors were then created. This method was inspired by the popular Pour Cup Painting on the Internet.

 

Resin:

Apart from those made during lesson, I also made one more in a similar flat square form to other samples.

I added diluted acrylic paint into the clear resin as well as some glitter powder. However I didn’t succeed in maintaining the ice cream sticks as shown below so they were removed. After a few days, the end result turned out quite interesting. The heat from the resin hardening actually made the mold warp and the piece appeared to be a curved plate. It took a while of cutting and sanding to remove sharp edges and rough surfaces.

 

Macrame:

I found the art of macrame(a form of textile produced using knotting techniques) very nice and tried some simple ones to see how it could be used. However, due to time constrain, I wasn’t able to explore further into this technique.

 

Plastic Fusing:

I also cut plastic bags into strips and tied them together. I actually liked the colors here but after ironing it and cutting holes on it, I didn’t like it that much so the technique stopped here.

 

Knitting:

Through Youtube video, I learnt more about knitting and found this sea foam weave pattern very interesting so I tried it out with different yarns. I also learnt about how to switch colors of yarn and a handy new trick called magic knot.

When I was knitting the sample piece, the yarn below actually ran out before I finished the numbers of row. I was able to use the magic knot and continue knitting with a new ball of the same yarn.

 

Bleaching:

The first piece of fabric I bleached was this one below. I tested on a small piece with the bleach during class and the dark blue turned into a light greenish blue after a while. However, the bleach I bought wasn’t strong enough and the bleaching didn’t work well on this one.

I decided to go back to using black cotton as I liked the combination of colors. The bleaching worked so much better on the one below.

 

Final:

Among all the experiment, I found bleaching more suitable to create the inspired design and therefore I started to work on a large piece with similar technique. The fabric was made of 100% cotton. After ironing it flat, I added tapes to represent the lines of terrace field. Before bleaching, I cut a few fluffy yarns to add some texture into the pattern. And the final was created with the combination of spraying and brushing of the bleach.

 

Lastly, after washing, I hand sew some blanket stitches to secure the edges of the cloth. And I made the bag below to store the cloth.

 

 

 

 

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Lesson 12 Resin & Latex

What is the technique?

  Resin casting is a method of plastic casting where a mold is filled with a liquid synthetic resin, which then hardens.

  Latex is a milky white liquid composed of rubber particles dispersed in water. It is cast into mould and solidifies into soft flexible rubber.

What are the relevant materials needed for the technique?

  Resin & Latex:

  • Mould (premade or made with vacuum forming PVC)
  • Resin epoxy
  • Liquid latex
  • Mould release conditioner
  • Hardener
  • Paint & inks for adding colour
  • Objects to be encapsulated
  • Cups & ice cream sticks, toothpick for smaller cast

 

How to achieve technique?

  Resin:

  Clean & wipe the mould and spray a light coat of mould release conditioner; Wear mask & gloves; Measure epoxy resin and add colours (optional) then add 4g hardener for every 100g latex, & mix it with stick; Pour into mould & add objects to be encapsulated; Leave it outdoors overnight to dry; Release it from mould when ready.

  Latex:

  Clean and wipe the mould; Wear mask & gloves; Measure liquid latex and add 4g hardener for every 100g latex, add colours (optional)& mix it with stick; Pour into mould; Release it from mould when ready.

 

What are the uses and applications of the technique?

  The latex casting creates soft rubber shape and it is commonly used to represent skin in sculpture such as a face mask. It is also used as mould as it is flexible and easy to release.

  On the contrary, the resin cast is solid & quite heavy. It is popular in jewelry crafting and sculptural decoration.

 

Experiment

 Resin Casting

  Before class, I went and laser cut some design with MDF board and acrylic sheet as well as made a vacuum forming mould.  Mould release conditioner was sprayed. Colors were mixed with resin in separated cups. And since we were in a hurry to pour the resin before it hardened, there weren’t much time to take photos of all the process. Below were some of them made during lesson.

  

  The end results were not bad after I collected and trimmed away the extra parts. I also sanded on the surface but I felt that a resin polish would make the result much clearer & glossier instead of a matt finishing. The resin also shrunk a bit and leaving small gaps on some of the edges.

 

 

 Latex trial during class

  The latex wasn’t mixed well with the red & blue acrylic paint probably because it was quite solidified at that moment. In the end I only got one small piece in a jelly mould as shown below.

 

Personal Reflection 

  I didn’t have many chances to try with latex but I felt that it would be better if I mix the colour with latex before adding hardener. It would make the colour mixing much easier and won’t risk having the rubber solidify before being poured into mould.

  Personally I find resin has more potential to be exploded. It would be better if we could have bigger space and more time to prepare and work with it. Using a smooth plastic sheet as contact surface would help preserve the glossiness of the resin. Resin also works well with alcohol ink in creating clear coloured outcome in comparison to acrylic paint that is in fact opaque. In addition, by adding more hardener, we could explore the effects of cracking which is interesting as well.

 

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Lesson 11 Field Trip to STPI

STPI Gallery
Date: 1 Nov 2018

  STPI is short for Singapore Tyler Print Institute. They holds every artist & residence Programme for 4 weeks where they invite artists from different fields to create works in their basement workshop. The artists would create works with prints in their own styles and exhibit them in the gallery upstairs.

Image result for aaron curry artistAaron Curry playing a Gretsch Masterbuilt Penguin guitar at his studio in Hollywood, California.

  The artist on exhibition was Aaron Curry, a Los Angeles-based artist whose work explore the boundary between painting and sculpture. According to the tour guide, he spend his early life in Texas without books, arts or money. Mundane objects such as keys & bones thus have a huge influence on his subject. Later he went to LA for art study and his life changed with a museum visit where he shifted from a painter to a sculptor, inspired to explore in between 2d & 3d.


  As we can see clearly, his works  contained lots of pop neon-colors that was artificial. Shapes and patterns contained lots of body parts. There was energy in the vibrant colors and shape in his works. The process of his creation started with sketching on paper. Then he digitized them & made refinement and made a stencil based on it. He would cut sinfra PVC and dibond into shape and then coat them with paper pulp. After spraying paint, he added the silkscreen print to finish. All the pieces on show were selected from many same pieces made. Therefore each single piece is unique.

  Besides the exhibition, we were also shown around the basement workshop but no photograph was allowed. There were all kinds of equipment & tools to use to product print arts such as hydraulic elephant press, paper mill and there was also an acid room.

 

 

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Lesson 10 Knitting

What is the technique?

  Knitting is a method by which thread or yarn is used to create a cloth. It contains a number of consecutive rows of loops called stiches. As each row progress, a new loop is pulled through an existing loop. The active stiches are held on a needle until another loop can be passed through them. The process eventually results in a fabric. It can be done by hand or with machine.

What are the relevant materials needed for the technique?

  • Knitting needles
  • Different types of yarns or threads

 

How to achieve technique?

  Knitting is pretty simple and straightforward, staring with a split knot and then cast on stiches till preferable width; follow tutorials or knitting charts to continue and lastly bind off the edge at desirable length.

 

What are the uses and applications of the technique?

  Knitting can be used to create numerous types of patterns and it can be either flat or in 3d form. Some of the popular applications include a scarf, sweater, blanket and hat. Using and mixing different types of yarns will make the end product much more diverse. There are knitting with leather, wire, plastic, ribbon and cord.

 

Experiment

 Knitting with different types of yarns

 

  Among these three yarns, the candy color yarn was the easiest to knit not just because it was softer but also that it had a bigger diameter. The plastic yarns were actually quite slippery and challenging to knit. I also tried on the below material but it was too difficult to be knitted.

Personal Reflection

  I actually like knitting once I got used to the flow of it. And it was quite fun learning different stitches and design from the Internet. It is also very convenient to make as all I need is needles and yarns so I can knit when I am on the train. However, I found the counting and checking of numbers of stitches a bit tedious and tiring after a while. It took me a while to be able to knit different stitches as the instruction.

 

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Lesson 9 Fiber Etching

What is the technique?

  Fiber Etch® Fiber Remover is a gel which creates decorative effects by removing fiber. It removes plant fibers: cotton, linen, ramie, rayon and paper. It is also effective on fabrics blends (and most noticeable on blends containing at least 50% plant fibers).

  Fiber Etch® is a Patented product of Silkpaint Corporation.

 This technique is also known as DEVORE and it works best on fabric blends with: cellulose + non cellulose. The chemical works on the cellulosic fiber (plant fiber), leaving the non cellulose intact on the fabric.

  Bleaching is used to whiten the colour of the fabric. It should be used on fabric made from 100% cotton, linen or rayon.

 

What are the relevant materials needed for the technique?

  Fiber Etch:

  • Silk viscose velvet
  • Fiber Etch fiber remover
  • Mask & gloves
  • Silkscreen print set or Paint brushes

  Bleaching Fabric:

  • Dark colour fabrics
  • Bleach
  • Mask, gloves & googles
  • Spray bottle or brush
  • Optional: rubber band, tapes etc.

 

How to achieve technique?

  Fiber Etch:

  Pre-iron the fabric and lay down on table; put on mask & gloves; Pour Fiber etch into the silkscreen& print onto the fabric or use a brush directly to paint on it; leave the fabric for at least 24 hours; Iron the fabric to get rid of falling fiber & wash it.

  Bleaching Fabric:

  Prepare the fabric with manipulation techniques such as folding, stitching, twisting or taping; Put on glover, mask and googles and take everything to a well ventilated space, preferably outdoor; Pour bleach into spray bottle (optional: dilute with water & shake); Spray the fabric and wait for the colour to fade; Wash immediately when the colour is desirable and let it dry.

 

What are the uses and applications of the technique?

  Fiber etch or DEVORE is popular for producing velvet fashion products such as clothing and beddings. And it works on watercolour paper as well as wood.

  Bleaching fabrics can be used for DIY projects such as t-shirt, table cloth and it is a great way to reuse old fabrics. It can create all kinds of patterns quickly.

 

Experiment

  Fiber Etching first trial

  The velvet was ironed and then a silkscreen print of fiber etch was applied as shown. However, in the next day, the fabric appeared to be intact. Another tip learnt in class was the burning fabric test. When we cut out a small piece of fabric and burn it for the smell to determine the content. The silk would smell like burning hair/nail. Otherwise, the fabric could have been synthetic instead of natural fiber like the seller might say.

 

Fiber Etching second trial

  Besides repeating the same process as last time, I also drew some design directly with a brush and dripped some drops on another piece and folded it.

  After 2 days, the green velvet pieces were completely intact after I ironed and washed them. The blue one did have some fiber removed after washing and scraping for a while. However, it was as complete as I drew and expected it to be. Therefore, it could be concluded that the content of the fabric might not be what it was said to be. It was quite a pity as I believed that the successful one would be quite nice.

  

 

Bleaching Demo

  The demo piece in class was quite interesting as the bleach was filtered out by a pattern table cloth as shown. The end result had interesting texture on it. And I used tape to block out the bleach on an old dress.

 

Personal Reflection

  Personally I prefer bleaching over fiber etching because it is much easier to execute. The effects also occur much faster and it is easier to predict & control. However, the result of bleaching could potentially weaken or even damage the fabric so it needs to be done carefully. On the contrary, fabric etching especially when it is used on fine fabric can create more durable and better products. It is a technique practiced by branded fashion companies.

 

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Lesson 8 Printing with Thermochromic inks

What is the technique?

  Thermochromics inks or dyes are temperature sensitive compounds, developed in the 1970s, that temporarily change colour with exposure to heat. They come in two forms, liquid crystals and leuco dyes. The colours of thermochromics inks will disappear when heat is applied on the surface.

What are the relevant materials needed for the technique?

  • Thermochromics inks
  • Fabrics to be printed on
  • Silk screen & squeegee
  • Screen printing medium
  • mask
  • Acrylic paint (optional)

 

How to achieve technique?

  It is pretty straightforward with thermochromics inks. It is an ink that can be applied on different surfaces; when printing it on fabrics, it needs to be mixed with a fabric medium to preserve the colour and the softness of fabric; acrylic paint can be added to achieve new colours.

 

What are the uses and applications of the technique?

  Thermochromics ink could be applied to a wide range of products, such as mugs, clothes, packaging and etc. One of the popular examples is the mood ring, invented by Joshua Reynolds.

 

Experiment

 

Personal Reflection

  I feel that thermochromics inks do add variation into the design. By adding acrylic colour into the thermochromics inks, you could get a new colour to display at normal temperature. The heat would only make the thermochromics inks disappear and reveal the added acrylic. It has potential to be developed into more interesting design if we play with combination of different patterns and colours.

 

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Lesson 7 Field Trip to MagicTouch

 MagicTouch Printing
Date: 27 Sep 2018

  During the field trip to TheMagicTouch store, the staff there Leon presented to us with a ppt. on basic knowledge on printing such as differences between RGB and CMYK. He also brought up the importance concept on the white. When we print on the transfer medium, the paper we use is default white and therefore whatever white design would be just left blank. There is no white printed on the transfer medium. When we transfer it to a non-white material, the white is no longer there. To solve this problem, they used printer with a special white toner that actually prints the white part.
Besides, he showed all kinds of transfer medium and some applications. With printing of etching circuit board and combination of a fabric transfer, they made a Santa with trees that actually lights up on the shirt. Another useful tip he mentioned was to print stitching lines or any other guideline with MagicTouch as it would make the making process especially alignment much easier.

 

  He also demonstrated a new transfer medium called RST9.1, which can be transferred onto wood with just water and spray adhesive. This could be done using normal method with a heat press as well.
At the end, we asked him about some of the issues we had with transfer printing. Below is a list of things to take note:
• Adjust pressure of the heat press; it is important as the medium needs better contact with the materials and we need to adjust to fit objects with different thickness
• Preheat the fabric before transferring
• When peeling off after heat pressing, peel according to the fabric grain direction not across it

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Lesson 6 Manipulating Fabric Plastic Leather Paper

What is the technique?

  These techniques include manipulating fabric, plastic, lather and paper. And two of them we learnt through class were: sewing with elastic and smocking.

   Sewing with elastic can create gather patterns on the materials and produce flexible stretchy pieces.

  Smocking is an embroidery technique used to gather fabric so that it can stretch. Smocking requires lightweight fabric with a stable weave that gathers well.

 

What are the relevant materials needed for the technique?

  • Fabric, paper, plastic, leather and etc.

  Sewing with elastic:

  • Elastic thread
  • Flat elastic
  • Sewing machine

  Smocking:

  • Hand sewing needle & thread
  • Fabric chalk or pencil & ruler

 

How to achieve technique?

  Sewing with elastic:

  • The first way is to put elastic thread in the bobbin for the sewing machine; simply sew straight stiches onto the fabrics either in linear manner or randomly; the fabrics will gather as we sew; tie the thread when done.
  • The second method is to use regular thread in sewing machine and the flat elastic strap; stretch and match the strap onto the fabric and cut out; pin it down and sew it with the zigzag stich on sewing machine

  Smocking:

  Use ruler and chalk to mark out pattern on the back of the fabric following smocking patterns; using a hand sewing needles to sew each pattern as required and secure with knot; Adding beads is optional and it could hide the stitches.

 

What are the uses and applications of the technique?

  Elastic is most often used to create waistbands in clothing, but it can also be used to create fitted cuffs on a shirt, the top for a dress, or to provide a snug fit in other areas of a garment.

  Smocking is commonly used in cuffs, bodices, and necklines in garments where buttons are undesirable.

 

Experiment

 Sewing with elastic thread

Sewing with flat elastic 

 

 

Three attempts on smocking

  The first smocking piece wasn’t as neat especially at the back side of the fabric. I tried a different design with a softer fabric. Both sides of the fabric looked quite interesting.

  Lastly I decided to try the first design again and it turned out neater as shown below.

  We also learnt a small simple technique where we cut out a circle piece of fabric and hand sewing it. When we went around the circle with the thread and pulled it, the fabric gathered and formed a smaller piece as shown. Using fabric crayons, I printed some designs on the fabrics and made some small ones with them as well as one with a fluffy fabric.

 

 

Personal Reflection

  I like how we can make a fabric even those stiff ones stretchy and flexible by adding elastic thread or flat elastic. The gathers created have very nice texture as well. More importantly, it allows more generous tolerance in making designs that fit different sizes. Smocking is quite tedious and repetitive but the end result is very organized and neat. I like how stable and strong the patterns actually remain with smocking in comparison to boiling of polyester fabrics.

 

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Lesson 5 Felting and Applique

What is the technique?

  Felting is a non-woven textile that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibres together. Felt can be made of natural fibres such as wool or synthetic fibres such as acrylic. There are many different types of felts for industrial, technical, designer and craft applications. While some types of felt are very sift, some are tough enough to form construction materials. Felt can vary in terms of fibre content, colour, size, thickness, density and more factors depending on the use of the felt.

  • Wet felting Felt is made by a process called wet felting where the wool fibres, stimulated by friction and lubricated by moisture (usually soap water). The process takes advantage of the inherent nature of wool and animal hairs. They are made up of unidirectional scales, and they are also naturally kinked. It is the combination which reacts to the friction of the felting process, forcing the hairs to lock together. An artificial felt with a minimum of 30% wool fibres would work as well.
  • Needle felting creates felt without the use of water. Special needles are used as a sculpting tool, which have notches along the shaft of the needle that grab the top layer of fibre and tangle them with the inner layers.

  Applique is a sewing technique that involves stitching a small piece of fabric onto a larger one t make a pattern or design. It is commonly used as decoration, especially on garments. The technique is accomplished either by hand or machine.

 

What are the relevant materials needed for the technique?

  • Wet felting: wools of different colours; soap or detergent; hot water
  • Needle felting: wools, felting needle, sponge or foam block
  • Applique: Sewing needle & thread/sewing machine, larger piece of fabric as base and smaller pieces

 

How to achieve technique?

  Wet felting: Firstly, arrange and add layers of wools as preferred on a sheet that covers the table. When ready, add few drops of detergent or soap water and pour hot water over to soak it. Start to rub the piece and form a denser and tighter piece; Do a pinch test to find out whether it is done fully and then wash it.

  Needle felting: Take the wools and lay them down on the sponge or foam board; slowly pock the fibres together to shape it; Use hand to hold up and help with the form and then pock areas to secure the shape; work around and make sure it is tight and dense at all part.

  Applique: Simply cut out shape of smaller pieces of fabrics and place them on the base piece as desired (pinned down if needed); Hand sew or use a sewing machine to stich the edges of the patterns to secure them onto the base fabric.

 

What are the uses and applications of the technique?

  Felting could be used to make clothing, footwear, rugs and even tents. The end result could be flat or 3 dimensional and it could be soft or has a rather strong structure and rough surface.

  Applique is particularly suitable for work which is to be seen from a distance, such as in banner-making. A famous example of appliqué is the Hastings Embroidery. It is used extensively in quilting (the process of sewing two or more layers of fabric together to make a thicker padded material).

 

Experiment

Prepare materials for felting

  The first one we tried in class was wet felting as shown below. And I turned it into a shell-like form by pocking it with the felting needle, combining the two techniques.

More felting

  I found it very convenient to add some soap water to accelerate the bonding process before using needle. And I also learnt from videos from YouTube that the felt wool can be placed in a freezer bag. After adding soap water, we can roll up the bag and it made the process easier and much less messy.

 

Applique

  I tried and tested different kinds of stitches on scrape fabrics and as shown below, there were many types and the stitch distance was adjustable as well. When I made the stitch distance closer to zero, the machine actually kept getting stuck so I went on testing with wider distances. The difference was clear in the two heart shapes below. (One with straight stitch and the other with ZigZag stitch)

  I knew about the blanket stitch when I was searching for ways to secure edges of batik pieces. It could be done with the sewing machine but I preferred to actually hand sew them as it wasn’t complicated.

  

 

  Besides these, I also wanted to practice using the sewing machine so I decided to make a simple tote bag. I selected and bought the material that I liked and used the MagicTouch sheets to print some designs for the bag. The fabrics were measured and cut out. And then I sew them together and flip it inside out as shown below.

  And just for fun, I also made three felt balls and hand sew them onto the MUJI totebag that I used for transfer printing before. I think the colors matched nicely with the bag and the print.

 

Personal Reflection

  Personally I really like felts not just because of its texture but also the fact that it is non-woven and can be bonded pretty simply. I found wet felting very efficient to create colourful pieces and I liked how the colour blend smoothly on its own. Needle felting allows us to make solid and refined 3 dimensional shape and it also could be used to add more detailed to a wet felting piece. Even though needle felting is quite laborious, I found the process quite therapeutic and I really enjoy the fluffy and warmth of the material.

  Applique is also a very interesting technique and it could certainly create all kinds of patterns with different stiches available. Mixing and matching fabrics with different colours, thickness or patterns allow endless opportunities to be explored.

 

 

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