This week I began experimenting with texture. I created a couple of textile prints patterns on Photoshop From fabric samples I had made the week before. I created two final prints that would be ready to print into fabric. The first pattern for me resembled a kind of tile mosaic. I like the way it is symmetrical and simplistic. This pattern could make up a whole leg or just a section of the garment and stand out due the small details in the pattern. I edited the colour to suit my colour palette which I liked however did not stand out as much as the colours were more earthy and neutral. The second pattern, instead of seeing it as a CAD sublimation print I envisioned a textile weave with recycled green and brown strands. Therefore I continued the pattern idea with a loose weave of the two fabrics. After creating my sample patterns I realised that the process is very harmful to the environment. The monks that the pattern would be printed with are made up on several chemicals and the energy needed to produce it with the heat and electricity is immense. Therefore I searched for an alternative which the technician informed me could only be the use of the run off ink. When the CAD printer is using the inks it produces a byproduct that is collected at the bottom of the machine. This brown/black liquid if used will still transfer the ink into fabric using a heat press. This process would mean I would not have to use more chemicals but instead utilise the run off that would be thrown away.
I also experimented with shabori. This is the process of using boiling water to mould a fabric, usually a polyester. I searched for instruction as this was the first time I had tried this technique. I used a magazine website under the URL: https://makezine.com/projects/add-texture-to-fabric-with-3d-shibori-techniques/
This told be I needed 100% polyester and I could use any object to wrap the fabric around. I decided to use a stretchy red polyester I had and a netting from an old tutu. To see if the technique would alter depending on size I used pebbles and 1p and 2p coins. The red polyester did not give the best result. I think because of the fact it had a stretch to it the structure did not keep very well. The netting was much better in keeping to the structure and I believe that was due to its stiff nature as a fabric. On both samples the coin shapes came out better. If I was to use this is my design I would definitely use the netting over the stretch fabric, from now on I know when using this technique it must be a stiff fabric.
After boiling the fabric the dye of the netting ran from the fabric so to utilise this and be more aware of what I was disposing of I took another white recycled garment I had and used the run off dye to colour it.
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