Textiles workshop

Last week on the 15^th of October I had my last workshop, which was textiles but considering it was on the actual deadline day of the project we didn’t experience the full day of textiles. Textiles Technology helps students develop their creativity. This two-unit specification requires students to develop their ability to make textile products, a vital feature of candidates' experience of taking this specification. The workshop was led by our instructor Kat, a textile expert who has taught it for around 15 years. Unlike other workshops we straight away got into different activities with Kat instructing us as we went along due to time. As we were going along we were introduced to different methods of textiles, these being:

Screen Printing: A force of ink or metal on to (a surface) through a prepared screen of fine material so as to create a picture or pattern. Also a technique where mesh is used to transfer ink onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink. In the workshop, we used materials such as cotton and calico to produce prints.

Batik: A method (originally used in Java) of producing coloured designs on textiles by dyeing them, having first applied wax to the parts to be left undyed. In this method, wax is melted to create the pattern using a tool called a Tjanting . This tool is used to apply melted wax onto either paper or a material then once the wax is applied it will the dry and the once you apply colour the wax will stand out enabling the pattern to been seen.

Puff binder: Puff binding is used in the same way as screen printing but after heat is applied with a heat gun and allows it to rise to create a 3D effect. Also for a better effect dye can be applied to create a little tad of colour.

Heat press: A heat press is a machine engineered to imprint a design or graphic on a substrate, such as a t-shirt, with the application of heat and pressure for a pre-set period of time.