Screen printed fabrics

I like to print fabric more than anything else...I have limited space so I can only use small screens.  I have some very large screens in the shed awaiting the summer when I can set up a table in the garden.

I print using stencils cut from thin paper. It takes a long time to cut the design with a scalpel and to get the screen ready .When I print I have to keep on going as I know the stencil will eventually fall apart or clog up. I do a run of as many as time will allow...or until I get fed up .Usually I start with a light colour, maybe a pink and add more red as I top up the ink to vary the colour after which I may add blue to change it to purple etc. I hang the prints to dry on the washing line.

These are some old prints I did which I made into bags and sold at a farmers market and on eBay. I printed it on paper first so that I can re cut the design and use it again.

I like to colour some of my prints by hand with fabric paints. I love the way one design can be changed in so many ways...

                                   These are old photos rescued from my old blog...
                   the camera was only a cheap and I cant  seem  to alter the photos very well.. 

This is one of the finished bags.........

The owl and the pussycat ........

This is a painting I did some years ago....a rather large painting that I did on fabric....I had it stretched onto a frame and sold it as soon as it was hung in the shop...       

This is the painting in the shop.....

My parents owned the shop which was situated very near the sea front in Eastbourne....I rented it from them and made every thing that I sold myself. I had a work area behind the counter where I painted and prepared my sewing. I did the sewing itself after the shop was closed or when my dad gave me a break.

In the summer I opened the shop seven days a week, starting at 9 am and closing sometimes as late as 10 pm..holiday makers often had a walk out in the evening. The situation was good as we were near the theatres and some good restaurants where people would take a stroll before returning to their hotel..

I worked in the shop until a week before I had Charlie....He was over a week late and an enormous baby, just under 10 lb... I walked about 20 Min's to the shop and back each day...huge and round. I bought a man's t-shirt for the last two weeks of my pregnancy...it was orange and cheap in a sale, the only thing that would fit me....I think I must have looked like an orange with legs. I returned to work in the shop a week after I had him.

Retro fabrics ... and thrifting ...

Well...we have a little sunshine today...I have a north facing garden and the sun is out at the very end...It is fairly warm, so I can hang my washing out and catch up with it. How Charlie (my 14 year old son) and myself can create so much I have no idea. I'm on my second lot now...but...I have to remember that my washing machine is leaking. It has been for some time now and I can't afford to have it fixed. As long as I put newspaper down and slide a couple of ice cream container lids under it I can catch the water. It is leaking just under the front, about a pint a wash...If I don't remember I will have a stream of water across the kitchen which I always manage to walk in and soak my slippers... 

I found this wonderful retro fabric in the charity shop...two curtains...I have washed them but not ironed them yet...I just wanted to show you.....The old woman who lived in the shoe....and look at all the cute little animals.......I'm not quite sure what to make yet...my mind is ticking over....

I live in a small village just outside Eastbourne...not a lot here...a parade of shops...a station..a Tesco...a beautiful park with a lake and within walking distance of Salisbury's..B&Q..Dunelm mill..a bowling alley....Toby carvery and some other things I am not interested in...

 Getting off the subject !...In the village is a charity shop,about five mins away...needless to say, every time I go out I have a little look inside. I know the people who work there very well now...after eight years living here I know all the people in all the shops very well. This is actually very nice, but the problem can be that a quick nip to the post office 5 mins away can sometimes take an hour or so. I post most every day the things I have sold on eBay and to private customers...I chat to the ladies in the post office...the charity shop...the girls on the checkout in tesco, and if I happen to be at Graham's till...he imparts a wealth of knowledge about which tomatoes to grow... etc...

Big retro style flowers...sometimes I can't bring myself to cut up a large piece of fabric and tend to hoard it....I just stapled this bit to a canvas and sewed on a few sequins. It echos the design of the wallpaper in my hall...

This fabric is comes from a double duvet cover...I wanted to use it as a spare but it was faded at the top so I had to cut it...also stapled to a canvas...

The cat is from the charity shop also...I bought it for Charlie but he thinks it too odd...I like it's oddness....

especially its face.....

Handmade gifts ... Easter bunny rabbits ...

 A busy day today.....at last I finished sewing my Easter bunnies...

Each rabbit is about 14 inches tall from the tips of his toes...to the tops of his ears....

The pattern is my own....each is different .....the eyes are felt...sewn on by hand with tiny stitches...embroidered faces....

I hand sewed a pocket on the front of each and popped a little carrot in...I found the carrot fabric a while back...a good quality linen ,orange with tiny white spots. At once I knew exactly what I could use it for and bought it excitedly....My son Charlie said he thinks I am a little nutty!!

Before I finished the rabbits I posted these lovebirds to a new customer, Teri...She was introduced to me on my facebook page by Claire who bought many 'I love you' dolls from me at Christmas..Teri has bought them as a gift for her sister's shabby chic style wedding. I thought that was a really nice idea....

Just a quick post as now I need to cook dinner....An angels work is never done.....

I have a very small kitchen...

I would just love to have a big farm house kitchen....not that I am a keen cook...or for that matter, a good cook....but because I want a big pine table where I can sit with family to chat over tea and cakes...where I can sit and sew alongside Charlie whilst he does his lessons...However..I have a tiny kitchen...I ripped out cupboards..put the fridge under the stairs... and had to have my table cut in half to fit it in. I took out more cupboards to fit in my kitchen dresser...my most loved possession.

Some years ago I bought the flower fairy lights just because I fell in love with them, one of those impulse buys ...they sat in their box for a couple of years as I had nowhere to put them...Last year I put them around the top of the dresser...a little ketch...but they look so pretty in the evening...

I think my mum gave me the angel...it has been there about six years along with the peace decoration that I put up one Christmas and never took down... 

Somehow this photo has got a bit stretched...I'm not that thin...my bottom not that flat!! As you can see I have to stand on a chair to put my saucepans away...I'm 5' 5"...average height...My eldest son is 6' 4"...he can stand in the kitchen and put his hand flat on the ceiling. That would be handy for decorating you think...no such luck....

This heart plate was free with tea bags !....When we have special sweets or pretty little cakes I display them on the heart plate. The mug was a charity shop find...unused for a pound....I knew Charlie would love it.

Below are my kitchen curtains...not a good photo I'm afraid...photography is not one of my strong points....along with writing and spelling....thank goodness there is a spell check on here....

It took a while to find the right fabric to go with the wall paper...I found it at 'The old loom mill' where I used to rent an area to sell from....

The tie backs I made from a long necklace that was made from a string cord with little charms and beads threaded on it....I undid the necklace and cut it in half. I cut the gold flowers from a leather off cut and sewed them on back to back catching the string between the stitches. Next I put back the charms and beads and tied  little brass curtain rings on the ends...

This cat is a prised possession as it is one of the few things my son Peter has ever given me...It is made from wood and has been hand painted...a holiday souvenir...I think it is brill !!

A fabric heart I made and decorated with some shiny squeezy paints I bought for Charlie, but I just had to have a go with them...it hangs on an old pine wall cupboard from the local secondhand furniture shop...

This mosaic was a gift from my friend Alison when I moved in....eight years ago...goodness I have been here a long time now and still have not got it the way I would like it.....

 

I put this photo on so that you could see my wallpaper more clearly. I just love this paper...it is a gold that sometimes looks silver, and a teal blue....I know at first it seems a strange paper for a kitchen but everyone remarks on how great it is....When I am in this room I feel like I'm inside a big present that has been wrapped inside out.......

 

Angel picture...fabric and paper collage..

This is a paper and fabric collage I did some while ago....I found it in a pile of cuttings from magazines.  I have scrap books going back over 20 years...I still refer to them for inspiration...

A few old photos of me.....

Some of these photos are very old ...they have been taken out of an album and been stored in a box for some time. A lot have marks on them..sorry about that...I just thought you might be interested in who I am......

This is me with my dad....he has always been an extremely handsome man...In all the photos of me when I was little I am frowning....I had that teddy all my life ...until...my youngest son Charlie decided to un stuff him.Charlie was about four at the time...I found the stuffing in the loo...and so it was time to part with my life long friend...sob!

I went to Kemsing primary school....

 

Fabric birds .....fairy lights in a twiggy tree.....

Before Christmas I bought this pretty twiggy tree complete with fairy lights....Sometimes I love my decorations so much that I keep them up all year....So it was with this tree.

 I have a dark little house and in the evening the stair light is permanently on as Charlie is forever up and down the stairs.....I adore the twinkle of fairy lights and placed the tree on a little chest of draws on the landing....It looked pretty, but a bit bare ....so....I made these little birds in various sizes from some of my favourite fabric scraps to hang in the tree.

 I wanted real feathers for the tails but no where locally sells them...impatient as I am I used wool. I cut the wool over twice the length I needed and knotted it in the middle, inserted it in the tail end and sewed up the hole with tiny stitches catching the wool in so that it could not pull out.....I used flower sequins for the eyes, sewing a weeny black bead in through the hole...the wings are just felt sewn on with a contrasting button. I threaded fishing line through to hang them from as this is fairly invisible....

This is the result....I tried to take a photo in the dark but it did not show up the details...so...sorry you can not see how pretty they really look....I put them on as soon as it starts to get dark and they light the stairs in a much nicer way than a ceiling light...

I love to crochet....granny squares...

My Nana taught me how to crochet when I was very young...by the age of ten I was proficient enough to teach my Auntie....My first completed project was a granny square poncho.....then a hippie bag ...then more bags which my dad took to work and sold to the girls in his office....This is how I began. I did not get much money for the bags, but enough to buy more wool and keep up production....They were made properly and I lined them...I sewed the lining on my Nans beautiful singer sewing machine and hand stitched the lining in....I also sold suede hippie belts and wrist bands....

The small blanket above was a gift for a friends baby...

I made this hat recently for myself...

This is work in progress....when it was finished I sold it on eBay ....

I made this bag after Christmas but still have not got around to lining it...I made the strap long and wide to wear across the body....I made this to go with my deep purple coat ...

The idea is to be hands free for shopping trips to Brighton.....One of my favourite pass times....down the lanes...wonderful shops...pubs and street cafes...

Work in progress !...I wish I had photos of all the things I have made...

Handmade cat and owl cushions....

Everything is a bit slow going at the moment...it is that time of year when businesses are quiet.....it is cold and miserable outside....and we are all looking forward to spring .

Personally I can't stand being cold, as soon as the sun shines I my brain seems to wake up and I feel motivated again.

I am trying to find a suitable on line shop...I only want a little one that is easy to manage...that I can link to my blog. I have been selling on eBay for five years but I find it far to expensive to run....listing....selling ....and paypal fees can at quiet times come to more than I am actually selling. Setting everything up is taking far longer than I thought it would...I am feeling frustrated by the whole thing.

I have designed a couple of cushions that have been going around in my head for a while...I made the patterns and tried them out to make sure they worked....I made the cat cushion from my fleece jacket that was feeling a bit tight after all that Christmas food...I put a zip in the back and made an inner cushion pad....I am very pleased with it, now I just need to find the right fabrics so that I can make some to sell...

 

Owls are very 70s and there are some nice cushion designs for sale on ebay and in shops...I was tempted to but one from eBay but I did not like the face so I have designed my own...The fabric I used is from my own stash...unused original 70s fabric that I thought was ideal as the design was reminiscent of feathers...I machine embroidered the eyes over two delicate flowers that I printed and appliqued them on. He  has a zip in the back and I lined him, placing a layer of wadding between the layers to give the whole thing more body and a better feel. The wings also have wadding inserted..I made an inner pad and feel very pleased with the outcome...He has a home on and old chair by the front door....

The way I work is probably a bit back to front ! I spend a lot of time looking for beautiful, quality fabrics for my work....but I like to buy remnants and ends of rolls so that I can keep my prices down...I don't design something and then but the fabric to make it from....I have the fabric and then think...what can I make from this...

Sometimes I have to wait before I can make up my patterns...for the right material and I like to make each thing unique in some way...I never make identical items.

A little peep into my home....

Sweet peas are my favourite flowers. I love the colours and they smell wonderful. I grew so many last year that I had vases full of them all around the house. This photo was taken in my sun room, the flowers stand on an old dresser base that I shall never part with....

This is the view from my kitchen window....snow!...I like to look at it but that is about all, I hate to be cold.  I love Spring through to Autumn........I am one of those people that can not bare to be uncomfortable in layers of clothes...stuck indoors with the heating on. I need to be out in the air...windows and doors wide open...I need the sun. In the summer you will find me either working in my sun room or in the garden....I live in bare feet...flip flops...cut off patched up jeans and cool pretty cotton tops.

This is my hall way, I collect all sorts of mirrors....they reflect the light back into my fairly dark house.  The large mirror says....mirror mirror on the wall.... I painted the stair wall white to keep it as light as possible and also because I am not restricted to using certain colours to coordinate it...I can put what I want where ever I want it...i am gradually re decorating in neutrals and white to allow me to use patchwork and bold retro fabrics ...I  love patterns and like to combine them...My taste is a mixture of shabby chic...retro 70s...gypsy...boho..hippie...

This is my sun room...There is no heating in this room so at the moment it is freezing...As soon as it is warm enough I put a large old pine table out there, and use this room to sew, paint and print my fabrics....It is not a very big room so I can only print on a small scale. I hang my printed fabrics on the washing line to dry along with material...yarn.....embroidery threads..and clothes that I dye and  tie-dye....I used to wonder what my neighbours thought...they are used to me now !

This is a very large wall and I tried hanging paintings and mirrors, but everything looked wrong and lost in the space....so I painted this....

My handmade gifts are loved....

I was sent these photos from one of my customers who is now one of my friends.....This is her beautiful daughter with a black cat that was given just before Christmas....Apparently she takes it everywhere....

The cat has been named Miss Perfect , and has visited Father Christmas and The Snow Queen.....

Just after Christmas Alison bought another cat...a pink one,

and for some reason her pet cat has taken a liking to it....

Along with the pink cat she also asked for a kitten in a bag that her cat carries around in its mouth , I would love to see a photo of that.......

When given this mermaid apparently Allison's daughter said....."I don't like it....I LOVE IT !"

Below is her other pet cat with some of the dolls.....

Our beautiful black cat...Bloopy...

This is our cat Bloopy....well he is Charlie's cat really, but I look after him and Charlie gets the cuddles.......

Charlie asked me to crochet this blanket as a gift for Bloopy last Christmas......However....his preferred sleeping seems to be anywhere that I want to sit.....the second I get up he jumps on and refuses to move, digging his claws in the seat..............

This is the original cat toy that I made as a gift for Charlie about seven years ago....His name is ...Bloopy cat !!!....Charlie asked me to make him a kitten....the kitten is called Bloopy kitten !!

Children are so funny when it comes to choosing names.........We love these toys and will keep them for any little ones that visit....

Such a sweet little kitten....