Behind the Scenes

Color Theory (or, the problem of too many choices)

September 20, 2012

I have been struggling for weeks to finalize the fabric colors I’ll be adding to the Cotton & Flax Fall/Winter collection, and I have to admit, I’ve been feeling a bit stuck. There are so many beautifully dyed linens available, it has been really hard to narrow down my choices.

The bottom four fabrics in each of these stacks are what I’d call the “Core Colors” of Cotton & Flax. These four colors, a natural unbleached linen, a dark charcoal grey, a strange mossy yellow green, and a minty seafoam green, have been the foundational fabrics of my textiles since I began printing on fabrics in 2009. I have occasionally experimented with a new color here and there, but these four colors have been the standard that I keep returning to.

I am thinking about adding a few new colors, and while I think I may have finally made some decisions, I wanted to post these photos as a reminder of all the planning that has gone into making this collection. I doubt that I will look back and feel wistful about my days of making color charts and tearing my hair out because a certain fabric is “suddenly looking too blue.” But it’s a nice reminder of how lucky I am to have access to such lovely materials.

New Business Cards and Hangtags

September 19, 2012

There’s nothing like a new stack of business cards! I was lucky enough to work with Laura Carignan (of Lulu Dee), a graphic designer here in Los Angeles, who helped me create my new logo and branded materials for Cotton & Flax. Last week, Laura letterpress printed the designs on some business cards and hang tags for Cotton & Flax, along with help from Mable of Dee and Lala stationery.

In the end, we created a few different pieces, which were letterpress printed on luxuriously thick, tree-free paper, which is made from 100% recovered cotton from the textile industry. Could you think of a better fit for a company that revolves around fabrics?

We printed the cards using a Vandercook letterpress, which belongs to Mable of Dee and Lala. I’ll be doing a full post about her amazing studio sometime soon, but I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the behind the scenes shots.

The business cards are my favorite part of the whole project. Laura created a design that could feature four of my hand drawn patterns (some of my favorites from the Cotton & Flax 2012 line!), and I think they turned out beautifully. Her bold logo is the obvious standout on the front of the card, printed in a rich black ink. The variety of different patterns, all embossed without ink, make the cards feel extra special, almost collectable.

She also created hang tags, which will accompany all Cotton & Flax items in retail shops and when I sell my wares at craft fairs and artist showcases.

Laura really has a knack for getting to know the ins and outs of your business, to better understand what the brand is all about. She paid close attention to what makes Cotton & Flax unique, and what types of branded materials were the best fit for my business. Looking for a great graphic designer? Get in touch with Laura here.

Cotton & Flax on Etsy!

September 18, 2012

I’ve finally opened the Cotton & Flax Etsy shop! There are only a small number of pillows listed right now, which I’ll be selling until the Fall/Winter collection is ready to launch (hopefully at the beginning of next month). Feel free to browse the Cotton & Flax shop on Etsy!

How does silkscreen printing work?

September 17, 2012

Update: I now offer an online class to learn to screenprint your own designs! Sign up for my screenprinting class, and transform your artwork into texiles, prints, posters, and more.

When I sell my textile work for Cotton & Flax in person, I’m often asked, “How do you print your fabrics?” The answer I usually give is that the fabrics are silkscreen printed, which I do by hand in my home studio. I talked about the process behind creating hand printed textiles last week, but I didn’t go into much detail about the silkscreen printing (or “screenprinting”) process. I know not everyone is familiar with how silkscreen printing works, so I made this little video that shows a snippet of the printing process.

This wasn’t intended to be a tutorial, so I skip over all the setup steps (like covering the silkscreen in emulsion and exposing my imagery onto the screen), as well as the parts that come after the printing (like heat setting the ink). The video just cuts to the chase, and you can see how I use a squeegee to hand print each piece of fabric through the silkscreen mesh template, making a piece of patterned fabric that will later be sewn into a pillow cover.

In the video, I’m printing one of my favorite patterns, the DNA squiggles, which will be sewn into small pillows. I’m hoping to expand my studio soon to print larger pieces of fabric (and maybe begin to sell yardage of my hand printed fabric), but for now, I’ll continue to print small pieces. If you’d like to learn more about silkscreen printing, there are a ton of great resources both online and in print for learning how to screen print at home. I’ve featured my top 6 DIY Printing books here, in case you’re curious!

Cotton & Flax on Tumblr

September 13, 2012

Are you on Tumblr? I’m pretty late to the game, but I thought it would be fun to start one for Cotton & Flax. I’ll use it to archive all my photos of patterns, both the ones I create and the ones I encounter out in the world. You’re welcome to follow me at cottonandflax.tumblr.com!

Patterns Everywhere

September 12, 2012

If you follow me on Instagram, you know I post a lot of photos of patterns I encounter out in the world. Here are a few shots from my summer outings, all which feature awesomely bold patterns.

From top left, clockwise: My cat Frida, lounging with my Bookhou purse and an Ikea pillow // My Bookhou purse and Keiko‘s Shelter bag // My friend Nina in an art installation in Hayes Valley // Some Falconwright pouches, spotted at Poketo.