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Hand Printing Cloth

© Ann Garner

Stripes, checks, and plaids can be woven into fabric and, on the jacquard loom, more complex designs such as multi-level floral patterns, paislies, and complicated geometrics can be created in a repetitive pattern throughout the length and breadth of the cloth. But free-form designs that may not be repeated all over the surface of the fabric are often not woven in nor applied with a mill-roller for printing over-all designs. Instead the textile artist will use various methods of applying a unique surface design to a limited amount of cloth. There are several techniques at the artist's disposal, some of which require more tools than others.

Hand Application of Paint to Cloth

The most direct method of applying color to the surface of fabric is to "finger-paint" the cloth with textile paints. This technique is commonly used to "marbleize" the surface of several yards of cloth. Put a brush in a fabric artist's hand and you have a finger extension that can create poetry with pigment on cloth. Of course, the range of abstractions or figurations is endless and the quality of a hand-painted fabric depends on the aesthetic and technical ability of the textile artist.

Rubbing

The second most direct method of applying color and shapes to a cloth surface is to rub cloth onto material that will stain it in various shades of monochrome. Think of falling on the grass lawn in a pair of white trousers. The knee area of the trousers will be decorated with several shades of green. Rubbing a piece of muslin on a clay bank will yield different shades of red oxide; yellow ochre gives similar results. Of course, pigments that have been extracted from the earth may produce even more predictable hues. After setting such "rubbings," the artist has the option of using the piece as is or cutting it into smaller shapes and fitting them in with other cloth as in applique or quilting.

A really interesting explanation and illustration of this most basic method of applying a design in color on the surface of cloth is found at http://members.aol.com/GlendaAlex/snail.... . A smooth, absorbent cloth can be colored in an irregular pattern by simply rubbing it on natural pigments found in the earth.

Another kind of rubbing is used to print cloth or rice paper and parchment for wall decorations. A dry coloring agent such as chalk or dried oil pastel crayons -- or even graphite pencil -- is rubbed on one side of the cloth while the cloth or paper is pressed against a metal or stone figure or text such as is found on medallions or gravestones.

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