Frutti bags

These are some bags I've sewn using Frutti block-printed cotton. Though I'm addicted to block-printing and really love how it conveys a handmade feel, I'm not sure what's the general perception of its finish. I'm wondering if some people could misunderstand the whole effect with a shoddily made screen-print. After all we are nowadays accustomed to mass produced textile goods that look almost flawless.

These bags are going to a newly opened shop here in Santiago with whom I have also been working on the design of their brand identity. More on that soon.

Inspiration-abundance

Ekekos picture from Cltn's Flickr

I've been trying to build a sort of mood board with these Frutti print samples and other elements that represent abundance, fertility and spring (am I too early yearning for it?). I've always admired the Altiplano's weaving, woolens and their use of bright colours in contrast with the dryness of the surroundings. (Above) Pompoms symbolise fertility and are beautifully used in the llamas flowering ritual. (Centre) An Aymará faja (sash) in bright fuchsia and lemon green. (Below) Some colour overloaded ekekos.

Frutti block-printing

This is my first attempt at block-printing. I couldn't get a linoleum block to carve the motif so I made it out of foam rubber which proved to work pretty good. The tricky part is applying the right and even amount of pressure to the block, otherwise it may result in an irregular printed colour. I'll keep practising...

Frutti

At last! Some technical problems with the sewing machine, a quick trip to the States and receiving an important but brief visit in between, kept me from finishing this project before. Originally I was working on a pomegranate motif (see fruit on bottom right) but then other fruits entered the scene. This felt pillow is specially cosy and sweet, and feels like a pink creamy pie. I love how the wool loop trimming inspired the frutti lettering.

LAN uniforms

I couldn't resist these flight attendant uniforms from LAN airlines. I love the boldness of the pattern and how it breaks every graphic rule modifying the original horizontal logotype just for the sake of the pattern. Unfortunately, many clients won't accept that nowadays. As read on the back of these postcards, "with the opening of new routes, flight attendants used different and original uniforms according to the stopovers of the trip." Can you see those hats with clear influences from the Andean altiplano?

UPDATE: Here's an excellent source of uniforms from almost every known airline, with nice pictures of outfits and prints.
Gracias Cristian.-

About how a tea set inspired this

There's a new felt project in progress.

I had been thinking for days of a new design for felting but I wasn't completely satisfied with what I had until I realised I was trying to approach something similar to a tea set I had as a child. I was relieved to finally visualise what I had been after and started sketching what I thought were the original motifs of the tea set, just as I remembered them. Of course I couldn't resist and had to dive into old dusty boxes until I found it. It was so nice to see again those little pieces. My drawings weren't exactly as the original design but I felt they had something in common.

In a couple of days I'll post a full view of this new motif. It's made in winter white wool felt on a cinnamon pink base (see colour sample in uppermost image).

Tartan maker

I found the most incredible and amusing textile tool with no weaving required: the Tartan Maker. Actually it's intended for generating tartan patterns for web backgrounds but it's so fun that I couldn't resist playing around for a good while, changing colours, orientation, and even yarn size. Also Tartan Maker has a sister site for creating striped patterns: Stripe Generator. It's equally fun!

Thrift shawls

These are my latest finds from a recent trip to a thrift store here in Santiago (en calle Bandera, para los que conocen). Beautiful "in the style of folk East European" 100% wool shawls, but I'm afraid they are not original, just "inspired by" pieces. It's difficult to say whether they are vintage, or should I say retro? Since reading the article Old Hat (Is vintage fashion looking dated?) in Selvedge issue number 21 I'm very conscious when it comes to putting a date on such items. It says the term "retro" should be applied to anything from to the last 25 years or between 1975 and the beginning of 21st century while "vintage" is between 1920 and 1975. Anything earlier is classified as "antique". Well, let's assume these shawls are just retro.

The black shawl was slightly felted, probably when washed, hence its floral print looks quite blurry and leaked. But for me, it just adds to the charm of it. I don't think the red shawl looks as dazzling as it is live (yes, is it any possible to be brighter than this?). The four of them have frayed borders and are constantly loosing threads, this is not supposed to be happening, isn't it?

L’amour est un poisson rebelle

Que nul ne peut apprivoiser.

My latest drawings had to do with fish. Further sketching and fish turned into a mermaid who fell in love with a diver down in Mare Balticum. A complex relationship. Is she going up to live with him? Or is he coming down?

A perfect print for a canvas shopping tote.

Siboney

As we are heading for the autumn/winter season, I'm getting prepared for it creating new designs for facing the cold temperatures in our poorly heated buildings. In fact, we lack that northern hemisphere culture of central heating, double windows and well-insulated living spaces. Though we seldom have freezing temperatures during winter, it's cold enough to make you shiver everyday as you try to warm your house only with an electric or kerosene heater. Of course there are places and houses that have central heating but that's not the most common and it's way too expensive. I even remember once talking to some Swedish diplomatic women and hearing them say that they have felt colder here in Chile than in Sweden. It's not just a thing of temperature, it's a matter of how good you prepare for the cold weather.

So, until the day I can make a bodysuit out of an electric blanket and plug it in every corner of the house, the old and dear hot-water bottle comes in handy for the season. And now that evenings are getting colder it's especially pleasant to work with wool and felt.

This new two-directional floral pattern was felted on wool while the back cover was knitted (row 1: *knit 2 st, purl 1 st* / row 2: *purl 2 st, knit 1 st*) and then felted by washing it in hot water and tumble dry afterwards. The back opening is trimmed with cotton bias binding, hang loop made of felted knitted braid and cotton bias piping for contour trim. Why so many finishing details? Because of the felted pattern. It was so complex and time-consuming that it deserved an equally detailed work. When designing this pattern I thoroughly considered felt qualities so I tried to stick to wide strokes in order to avoid losing detail when felting the motif. Note to self: don't use strokes less than 3 mm wide. I'm calling this new pattern Siboney, just as this song I listened to infinitely while felting.

The beautiful camisole with a crocheted top was made by my mother as a gift and she was kind enough to unwrap the package just for the shooting. Gracias.

Garden Plan

The illustration just above these lines (found while looking through some old books) inspired me to create this new pattern. It's about a garden plan/diagram showing some convenient layout for planting trees and others. I thought I'd end up with a striped pattern, something similar to the original illustration, but as I started I got increasingly amused arranging my own vegetables and trees so the outcome is more packed. And there are some words in Spanish for my favourite fruits and vegetables (apple tree, pear tree, carrot, beetroot, lettuce) and favourite garden flower (hollyhock). Manzano, peral, zanahoria, betarraga, lechuga, malva.

What about the colourways? From above [Eggplant + Ether Blue] and [Cinnamon Pink + Eggplant]. Are these going to be printed? Don't know yet.

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I wanted to thank MStetson Design and the SCOOP for their nice posts on my work. It's so encouraging! Thanks!

Biscuits

These are my first professionally printed patterns. I had to get some wedding gifts for friends so I decided to print a small run of fabric and make tea-towels and potholders out of it. I'm so happy with the results that I'm thinking of framing a couple for me.

The Biscuits pattern is printed on bright white granité cloth (a very textured cotton/polyester blend that resembles crepe weaving). What I like about granité is that it was largely used in table linen but right know it's totally out of use. So when I found some yardage I immediately thought it would add such a nice vintage touch to this pattern. The Square Biscuits (above) is printed in three shades of warm gray and the Round Biscuits in fuchsia, bright orange and yellow.

Now I have to trim and sew the tea-towels to get them sent asap. I'll post again with pictures of the finished pieces.