Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Versatex inks and heat setting

I took a piece of fabric that I had printed with Versatex yesterday (one I'm not crazy about, I confess) and ripped it in half.  This had been printed onto previously scoured fabric but it had no other treatment after printing other than letting it dry completely.  I wanted to see if I could get rid of some of the heavy handed plastic feel that the inks leave.  I washed out the lower half of the piece and you can see how some of the colours have come out....the piece has lost its plastic feel but some of the intensity of the colours as well.  Which is fine if I end up with colours that I want.  Then I tore the top part in half and ironed the left hand side really well to heat set it.  I then washed out the piece that I had ironed (left hand top), in the same way I had washed out the bottom piece.....no colour came out this time, but the heavy feel of the fabric remained.  The piece on the top right is just as it was after the printing....no heat setting, no washing out.  You can see that the vibrant colours are retained with heat setting, which is good.  I need to work on getting a deep intense colour without a heavy application of ink....in all fairness, it's possible that this problem is mine alone....I'd love to hear if you've tried them and what your experience was.



This morning, I did some more printing onto some of my earlier stamped fabrics, following Linda Germain's lesson suggestions for today.


And finally, I've nearly finished the little piece I've been working on and I'll show you that in a bit.  (I have to dye some grey for the binding.)  It's hard to hand-stitch through the Versatex inks, especially in a couple of places where I have several layers of fabrics and therefore, several layers of inks.  I think when I'm all done with the class I'll re-do the lessons, using the Jacquard fabric paints, just for comparison.  I have printed with the fabric paints in the past but I want to see if I can get the fine details that are possible with the Versatex inks.  I'll report...





5 comments:

  1. This is all very interesting as I'm keen to get back to screen printing for a current project. Do you know the other Jaquard screen printing inks - archival quality?

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    1. Good question, Margaret. I think some of these products are relatively new in terms of the archival quality question. I can see that once it's heatset (or whatever it might require) the product is more permanent, but I should hate to predict its longevity given that sunlight can destroy the fabric itself. I have a friend who used the Versatex and the screen printing inks with her thermofax screens. Have you checked out Jacquard's website?? I'll have a look as well....now I'm curious!

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    2. Margaret: I just checked Jacquard's site....says their screen printing inks are archival and lightfast.....good to know!!

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  2. Marny, I love these pieces you are doing! And how clever you are to try all the combinations of washing and ironing to see how the colour and the hand of the fabric are affected. I can't wait to see your completed piece; I know it will be lovely.

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    1. Tks Joanie. I think it was a worthwhile exercise. Yesterday I dyed fabric for binding my stitched piece...hope the colour is right! I'll let you know!!

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