Printing/Stenciling Archives - Page 23 of 37 - Ashley Hackshaw / Lil Blue Boo

Sun Printing – An Introduction

August 11, 2010 by Ashley Hackshaw

It’s been about 25 years since I’ve used sun printing paper but it’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while! Who knew there was sun printing fabric?! I made this easy little square pin cushion using 8.5″ cotton cyanotype fabric squares and buttons:

This applique shirt was so simple…

…and I love the extra button detail:

The squares I used are the Blueprints on Fabric(pink on blue) shown below:

In a nutshell, the 8.5″ fabric squares in the kit are pretreated with a chemical that makes them change color in sunlight. I took the squares and pinned them to cardboard backing to keep them in place and laid various objects on top to experiment:

I placed the board in the sun for about 10 minutes and let the sunlight do its thing. The fabric darkens slightly (not to its dark blue you would expect):

Once the fabric has been in the sun for about 10 to 15 minutes, it is washed with cold water and the dark blue color appears:

I’m pretty sure there are over million things you could do with this fabric…here was my first hour of playing with it:

I pinned buttons to the fabric in the shape of a heart:

I pinned one of my mother’s old necklaces in place:

I layered different types of lace:

I used a transparency with a superhero “POW” on it:

Stay tuned for more sun printing soon!

Li’l Fashionista Boo

July 22, 2010 by Ashley Hackshaw

Stephanie Corfee drew up this “lil fashionista” illustration of a slightly older Boo for my new business card! I love everything about it…..the hair, the Lil Blue Boo dress, the mismatched socks….she nailed it! But it gets better…..

…..I’m working out the details now for custom dresses from her illustrations….so if you order a “lil fashionista” portrait from her sho p you will soon be able to place custom orders for a dress with your own original print like the one shown below that I made for Boo. So stay tuned for details!
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Our last collaboration was so much fun…..it is still running! Here are a few dresses I made this week with the “When I Grow Up Print” and mixing various knits and linens:

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That’s it for tonight! I’m trying to get over a cold and I’m of to bed early. Hope you all are working hard on your entries for the Great Ugly Knit Upcycle! I’ve received some great entries so far…but you still have time to enter!

A Pirate Matryoshka (with Download)

July 2, 2010 by Ashley Hackshaw

This is for the boys (and pirate-loving girls too)! Last year, Christy from Beachbrights asked me to do a pirate matryoshka doll for her son Max, he is adopted from Russia. I’m a little embarrassed that I am finally getting around to it! You can use this tutorial to transfer my pirate matryoshka image to t-shirts, hoodies, sweatpants etc. I used a plain white dress in this tutorial since I don’t have a little boy…..and Boo loves pirates anyways….so this dress will be worn a gazillion times over.

The easiest way to transfer this image to fabric is to print it out onto transfer paper using your inkjet printer. I use Dharma Trading’s Super Soft Transfer Paper…it’s the best out there…your image will end up looking almost like a silk screen. Cheaper transfer paper from the store will look too plastic-like.

Cut out the image…with the Dharma Trading transfer paper you can leave a border…it won’t be noticeable on the fabric.

Place the cut out face down onto your fabric. I used Dharma Trading’s Double Lettuce Edge Spagetti Strap Dress (Boo wears a 4T….they do not run small).

Follow the instructions of the transfer paper…..but make sure you use a hard surface like table….not an ironing board. For the Super Soft Transfer Paper you will use the hottest setting and iron firmly back and forth for about 20 seconds.