Cutting Stencils

15 stencils cut today ...... all these paper ghosts hanging in my studio. Another 15 to go.

First Tapron

So I read somewhere that you can make pretty accurate and stable stencils using freezer paper. You cut the shape and then iron it onto the fabric with an iron minus the steam. This is my first try and I'm pretty happy with the results. The edges are pretty sharp and the white is good and dense. After this sample I can see that text may be a bit of a problem. maybe I'll get a custom stamp made. ... also I'm not sure if the image is too big. Thanks to Chloe for modeling!

Another printing block .....

Last week, Holly and Larry (http://www.greyweathers.com/index.html) gave me a fantastic Indian printing block for my Tapron project. This one is around 6" in length. The intricacy of the design and the realization that somebody had the skill to hand carve such a piece staggers me. Such craftsmanship. I wonder if they're still made these days.

Fabric printing blocks ....

A few years back I came across some small fabric printing blocks. They were originally from India. Just as a thought, I wonder if I could use these blocks in conjunction with my Tapir stencils. Replacing the white 'saddle' of the Malaysian tapir with a white printed fabric block. Maybe the printing blocks could be used for the border design I'm planning to have running around the bottom of the apron. It occurs to me that as this project progresses, I'm more and more convinced that one design will not do it ….. there is so much here - design-wise! So much to try out.

Cut paper ideas

Some ideas using cut paper. I'm liking this 'simple' approach, but feel the type is too much of a contrast. I wonder if I can get a stencil typeface that has some of the 'drawn-line' nature of the image. Hmmmmm! I suppose I could handwrite the title ... but could I do it 30 times?

Tapir Stencil ... simple

I don't think I'll be producing anything too sophisticated ….. just me and a sponge brush. So, I'm thinking of a stylized running tapir. This might form the main chest image.

Testing .... ink and stencils

I think I'm going to print images using stencils. The stencils I'm making are made using thin plastic …. like the plastic in a 3 hole punch page envelope. After a trial I've found that Speedball Fabric Screen Printing Ink seems to work best. You apply a warm iron after the printing for 5 mins to fix it. Although how many times do you wash an apron? I'm using a sponge brush rather than a stipple brush. The latter seems to pull up the fabric. I'm such a novice at this! … perhaps I should be spray glueing things down.

Seemed like a good idea at the time ....

I had thought that 30 aprons on a line, all blowing in the breeze would make a great image …. but by the time I got them all up, the wind had died down and so they all look pretty limp. Perhaps I'll try this again when they're printed.

Aprons arrive!

This year's World Tapir Day project has started with the delivery of 30 black aprons. Over the next 8 weeks I'll be printing Tapir images on them, turning them into 'TAPRONS'. Like the last two years I will offer these up for sale on the 27th April and then donating all funds to the Tapir Preservation Fund.