Karen Barbé is a textile designer and lives in Santiago, Chile. Her passion for crafting, textiles and everything nostalgic finds its space on her blog where she shows her works in progress and what currently inspires her. Her textile creations can be found on the her online shop.
Hi there! I’m Karen, I’m a textile designer and I’m happy to be guest blogging here on Whipup.net.
I chose to hand print this piece of fabric because it’s been a long while since I had last tried it and I had in my mind these images of cross-stitch patterns, grids and textile structures I wanted to play with.
For making my stamp I used a clear polycarbonate sheet and small squares (5 mm / 2.5inch) of EVA foam [hard foam - comes in blocks - is used quite a bit in packaging too].
What I like about using small squares is that you can easily build a nice motif without having to carve or cut complex shapes. Just choose your favorite cross-stitch pattern and start gluing the squares (or “stitches”) on the surface.
I printed a piece of roughly 1 x 1 mt (a bit more than a yard) of natural cotton muslin with three rows of my design. It’s best to use clear bases for the stamp for easier registration (instead of wood or matte plastic).
I must confess I was going to cut the final cloth and sew a bag but when I saw it finished I changed my mind. I can now use it as a small tablecloth, a wall hanging or small curtain, a cloth for sitting on the grass or for wrapping your stuff you have to carry around (like returning the books to the library).
Can you think of any other ideas?
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Oh this is simply gorgeous!!
Thank you for the inspiring post Karen!
Wonderful idea from Karen, as always!
Nice post Karen!
Can you think of any other ideas? Yes!
A curtain on a bamboo stick for a kitchen window would be nice or an apron, or sewed onto cotton fabric makes a small baby blanket. A cloth in the center of a table with a vase with pretty flowers on it. And there must be much more options:)
Thanks for your inspiration.
I love this idea! Nothing better than being able to personalize your fabric. Thanks for sharing.
i love this project. it seems so do-able. can’t wait to try it out. thanks karen x
Thank you for sharing this idea! You made it look very easy.
Did you use a particular type of paint for this?
What a beautiful project. Fantastic!
I’ve always wanted to try fabric printing. This beautiful idea from Karen makes it simple enough to try. What fabric paint would you recommend?
I love it! What kind of ink or dye did you use?
wow!!! this is fantastic. Thanks for sharing!
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