Today, I have exactly what you all wanted out of knitting blog, more fabric printing and sewing! Seriously though, I’m having a lot of fun sewing simple things on my sewing machine and learning how to print on fabric. Thanks for sticking around to read it.
I started off with some simple natural muslin from fabric.com. This is the kind of muslin your supposed to make, you know, a muslin out of. It’s not the traditional guazey baby blanket muslin, but since I wanted something that was more tea towel consistency to begin with, I am perfectly happy with this fabric–except for the wrinkles. I can’t tell you how long I spent pressing, and it would still be wrinkled. We’re going to blame it on my ancient iron and then move on.
After washing all 6 yards, I cut it into 3 45×45 inch squares. I still had about a 60 inch length of fabric left over for another project. I always press my hems and pin them. I’m not the neatest sewist out there, so whatever I can do to help keep my final product looking nice, I try to do.
I gave these blankets about a one inch hem, partially because of my sloppy cutting, and partially because that’s an easy amount for me to eyeball. Also, I completely charmed with how well the thread matches the fabric.
On the first blanket, I stamped out the sheep using a linocut I made last year and some yellow acrylic paint and a fabric paint medium. This helps the acrylic adhere to the fabric more permanently. You’ll notice when you first do you printing, after the paint dries, the paint is very stiff. This will soften up when you wash it (follow the directions on the fabric medium.)
I’m still learning how printing on fabric with paint is different than printing on paper with ink. So far, I feel like paper and ink are easier, but I feel like paint on fabric is cuter.
On the other printed blanket, I used the tiny paint roller to put on my silly stripes. I used three colors, printing the stripes one color at a time. I wanted the stripes a little funky, so I just eyeballed the spacing and didn’t worry myself with keeping the lines straight. Also, I did put an old beat up cardboard box between the blanket and the table top, because the paint will bleed through a thin fabric like this. If you don’t want the texture to your stripes like I have, choose a pristine piece of cardboard and pin your fabric down so it doesn’t move at all.
For the third blanket (in the background), I dyed it with Rit on the stovetop. It was pretty quick and painless, but I’m not sure how much fabric yardage I’ll be dyeing in the future. I really like the natural color of the cloth peeping through between my printing. I do love this sunflower yellow color though.
An above view of the stripes.
And here is the finished set. Three unique blankets that are perfect for swaddling and won’t be too heavy as the weather warms up.