It is a busy month and this Design Board, with a Map Theme, in my studio is inspiring projects and surface design ideas to share at up coming Design Outside the Lines Retreat in Taos, New Mexico. Preparing for the retreat always gets my creative juices flowing. My creative playtime dances from textile details, garment construction, re-making and surface design.
A Summer Jacket- Updating this linen jacket turned it into one of my summer favorites.
#1= Change the Buttons! Good idea to choose buttons after you print or add fabric collage. This garment started out all white with white plastic buttons. I added shell buttons, tied on with a cord, and the topstitched button loops became a focal detail accented with metallic fabric paint.
The bold, irregular printing technique was inspired by the textured, fabric surface.
The highlight stencil in this blog is my Brush Alphabet: See more printing ideas for getting great results with this stencil design below. The stencils that were combined with the The Brush Alphabet, to create the various printed areas on this jacket are: Jakarta, Off the Wall and Wrought Iron Fence .
Design Placement with Stenciling- Printing is a great way to create focal areas in your design. Printing with white and lite grey on light color fabrics can add an unexpected appeal! Back of the neck, sleeve cuffs, pockets and down center front are some favorite areas for adding details.
Often times sleeve ends are ignored. Just adding a fold, slit, stitched pleat, another tie and afew of the stencil images changed that.
Hem Edges- An asymmetric hem adds lots to the look of a garment. To do this, I added a facing then cut a new edge around the pocket, so it hangs below the new hemline. Opening the sides and leaving slits or adding tucks through the hem edge adds movement and a more interesting line.
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What are they gonna see when you walk away?....give em a nice detail up at your neckline to look at! |
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The blue design, is the square above was printed using the Pottery Shard Stencil...another favorite! |
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Off the Wall, Eucalyptus, Borders and Cactus Floral stencils were also used in the black canvas design. |
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Starting with a textured fabric design can add alot to your printing. The Brush Alphabet stencil was printed, in several colors, more along one edge to create a subtle border effect. |
My Design Challenge to You: Choose a favorite stencil or 2 and spend a summer afternoon printing on some airy, summer fabrics. Magic happens when you least expect it for sure........
Growing your Design Eye Exercise:
So much of creating new design direction takes putting new elements and shapes together: Working on architectural/map ideas: Wire, metal clips, knitted copper wire and drawing on canvas are a start in this combo on the left.
What inspires you?
Be open and trust your sense of combination. Pull your own combination together, pin it up on your design wall, look for whats new and explore the ideas that show up for you! Diane