Sunday Stash #19

My stash this week is some fabric I have screen printed myself (just now actually and it is still wet!) I took some lovely brown check fabric that I was going to make some pants out of and then screen printed it in white with my doily print. I am going to make some clutches out of it so I guess that means I am going to miss out on the pants.

Op Shop Finds - Hawthorn.

I thought I would show you some goodies I bought at the Epic Treasure Trove op shop in Hawthorn. It's not in my neck of the woods but Monday is our day out and we usually go exploring other suburbs. I got this lovely little matching tea cup, saucer and plate. I love the combination of yellow and pink flowers. It's in really good condition too. There is a tiny bit of wear on the saucer but it's not really noticeable unless you look very closely.

I also managed to pick up an embroidered doily and a whole heap of vintage hook and eye cards. Some of the hook and eye cards are a little damaged but I did manage to snag one that was in pretty good condition and had all it's hooks and eyes in tact.

I went to 2 other op shops in the area but didn't find anything worthwhile in either of them. It's always a bit hit and miss with op shops. Most of the time I end up leaving with nothing.

Testing Testing

I have finally tested out one of my screens and I am really excited with the results. The final images are clearer than I was expecting. My technique needs improving though, I didn’t lay the ink out evenly on the screen to start with and I had to keep pulling the ink back and forth trying to get the spots I missed. Not bad for a first go though and at least I know that a good image is achievable.




The first print I did was the best out of the three. The only thing wrong with it was that I failed to see some calico thread lying on top of the fabric where I was printing, so you can see a fine line towards the end of my bird’s tail where the thread was.




It was a pretty messy process, especially with black ink. My fingernails are stained black and it looks like I haven’t washed my hands in days (par for the course I think). I got a bit of ink on my clothing, so I need some dedicated screen printing clothes or an apron to wear. When I was in primary school, (a long long time ago) everyone had to have a smock to do art in that was worn over our school uniform for protection. The smock was basically a man’s (dad’s) old shirt worn backwards with elastic around the neck to keep it on. Maybe I need to make myself one of those.