In the past week, I have set about making my tea towel designs a reality by applying the Illustrator- based designs through the digital textile print process.
On Monday evening (the first oppurtunity I had to print), I went down to the studio where technician Gareth kindly helped me set up my designs onto the printing programme, and helped me choose the cotton satin fabric to print on. Unfortunately, the didn't have a cotton canvas fabric (as previously discussed) so this was the best alternative- probably a little too "luxurious"- though still usable as a tea towel.
Originally I was quoted £32 for the three designs (I wouldn't have time to print the rest, at 1.5m print/ph rate), though after a little manvouering on the design programme, the price was reduced to around £6.30 per tea towel design.
The tea towel was printed, took one day to dry, and then half an hour to steam- after being pinned to hessian sacks for a protective covering. I would have liked to have been more involved with this process, though the room was very busy, and technician Caroline kindly helped me out.
The utensils for my tea towel designs- the tea towel prints, bondaweb to seal the hem down pre-stitch, gutterman ecru coloured-thread, needles and fabric scissors. Ready to cut and sew.
The printed designs- all laid out on the one sheet of fabric, ready to cut. I was particularly happy with the kiwi designs. The colour of the fabric (unusually) made all of the colours a little greyed and de-saturated (with more time, I would have experimented with various material samples)- however, the kiwi design was still bright enough.
A little frustrating unforeseen circumstance- the printer left a few blemish marks on some of my designs. Rather frustrating, comparative to the high quality of the rest of the print. As well as due to time constraints, I chose to use the best print, the kiwi design to make my tea towel to present with my final "Designer Diet" pack with the module hand-in today.
I used the Guterman thread from past experience- certainly one of the best quality threads, it is strong, soft and doesn't break easily- essentially for the "wear and tear" tests that the tea towel would undoubtedly be put through.
I decided to create a double running stitch throughout the design- obviously, this would take twice the time, but would create a much stronger, reinforced hem.
Really happy with the printed design- the texture is soft and almost a little fluffy- giving the kiwis more character, almost creating their notable fuzzy- skin texture. Would be good to apply this material as an overlay in Illustrator to see the effects of an overlay.
Unfortunately, due to massive tiredness of a six-hour stitch session, the quality wasn't as great as I would have liked. Unfortunately, I decided not to bring my sewing machine with me when I moved up to Leeds so hand-stitching was the result.
To finish the package, I wrapped simply in a cellophane wrapper, with the tea towel tied up with the mint-green ribbon and appropriate label.
To finish the package, I attached a kiwi sticker- evidencing the tea towel contained in the package. For the final distribution, I could create a tea towel "Designer Diet" pack for each of the new Graphic Design students, each with one of the ten tea towel designs for a varied and "collectable" feel.
Ideally, I would have liked more time to work on this design, though I severely underestimated the length of time and preparation in would take. Although I am not overjoyed with the quality, I'm really glad that I could to experiment with something new, and learn about a whole new process which I'm sure I'll be utilising a whole lot more in my future at the University.
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