Blog - Cotton & Flax

printing

Stenciling on Fabric with The Crafter’s Box

Hand printed linen throw blanket - DIY via The Crafter's Box

This month, I’m thrilled to be partnering with The Crafter’s Box, to bring you another fun workshop: Stenciled Linen Throw Blankets! This is my second time collaborating with The Crafter’s Box for an online workshop, and I still love their format: you receive a box of high-quality craft materials in the mail, and log-in to enjoy the online workshop at your own pace. If you’ve been curious about stenciling on fabric, or creating your own large-scale designs on fabric, this is the workshop for you!

Hand printed linen throw blanketPatterned throw blanket - DIY via The Crafter's BoxThe Crafter’s Box is different than a lot of other creative workshops out there. They focus on workshops led by experts, who guide you through every step of a creative project, and provide live feedback during a monthly maker chat in their forums. The materials they send for each project are always beautiful — this month, we’ll be sending a gorgeous flax linen throw, which will look beautiful with the vibrant cobalt blue and black inks we’re including for the project. It can be used as a blanket, or a tablecloth for all your summer adventures!

Patterned linen tablecloth - DIY via The Crafter's BoxI hope you’ll join me for this workshop! You can sign up from today through June 20th — after that, enrollment closes, so they can pack up your boxes, and get them delivered in July. It’s a short sign-up window, so don’t delay. I can’t wait to see what you’ll create!

Block Printing with The Crafter’s Box

In case you missed it last week, I debuted my first online block printing class with The Crafter’s Box! When you sign up for a subscription by 3/20, you’ll receive all the supplies and materials you’ll need to print your own beautiful linen table runner. You’ll get access to an exclusive online video tutorial, where I’ll give you all my tips and tricks for creating beautiful block printed textiles.

If you want to learn to block print on fabric, sign up for The Crafter’s Box now! Enrollment closes on 3/20, so don’t miss out!

Creating patterned notebooks with Scout Books

Cotton & Flax at Scout Books

If you follow Cotton & Flax on social media, you may have seen previews of a new product that debuts on Monday: patterned pocket-sized notebooks! I was so excited to partner with Scout Books to expand their collection of artist-designed notebooks, and to add these new pieces to the Cotton & Flax collection.

While I was in Portland in April, I met with the team at Scout Books as we worked to put the finishing touches on our collaboration. I had the pleasure of touring the Scout Books headquarters, and getting a look behind the scenes in their offices and workshop. You may have seen the photos I took over on Instagram, and Meg from Scout Books sent over a few extra photos for me to share.

Cotton & Flax at Scout Books

Cotton & Flax at Scout Books

Scout Books creates custom notebooks using 100% recycled papers in their SE Portland studio. After combing their archives, I was impressed with the wide variety of projects they’ve taken on over the years – so many awesome notebooks designs created in collaboration with some of my favorite artists!

The collection we created for this collaboration consists of seven notebooks, four gold and three light blue. The team at Scout Books worked with me to match the gold ochre and light blue inks with the fabrics I use for my collection. After looking around the Scout Books studio, I was really impressed with how efficient their setup is. It was so cool to see the presses in action, and to see how the notebooks were made.

Cotton & Flax at Scout Books

Cotton & Flax at Scout Books

Cotton & Flax at Scout Books

The new notebooks will officially debut in the shop on Monday! If you’re planning to attend the National Stationery Show in New York this week, stop by booth #1340 to say hello to the Scout Books team, and see these notebooks in person. I’m a huge stationery nerd, so I wish I could be there in person – instead, I’ll just be cheering from the sidelines, and following along on Instagram.

Don’t forget to sign up for email updates, so you’ll be first to know when the new notebooks go on sale.

Recap: Custom Stationery Workshop at West Elm

workshop

workshop

I had so much fun teaching a custom stationery workshop at West Elm last night! I was blown away by the amazing designs my students came up with in just a couple of hours. So much creativity!

kit

Each attendee received a little gift bag filled with supplies – a small EZ-cut linoleum block, as well as paper for sketching, and multi-colored postcards for printing on. I provided all the carving tools and ink, and after a bit of sketching, everyone just went for it! Love to see creative bravery in action.

pattern workshop

workshop

workshop 5

Thanks again to everyone who attended the workshop! I’m hoping to teach more workshops soon, so stay tuned.

How Cotton & Flax coasters are made

Cotton & Flax coastersWhen I sell my work in person, the felt coasters are always the most fondled item of the whole collection. Everyone seems to want to pick them up and touch them! I can’t say that I blame my customers for being curious, the thick wool felt I use really is appealing. Today, I thought it would be fun to take a peek into how Cotton & Flax coasters are made.

felt millCotton & Flax coasters begin their lives as raw wool, which is milled in Germany. The photo above shows the mill which processes the felt I use. Kind of picturesque, wouldn’t you say?

Felt Mill
Felt MillWool felt is one of the oldest man-made textiles. To produce felt, raw wool undergoes a wet “felting” process, which involves matting, condensing and pressing the fibers. You can see a little of the milling process below, I find those giant machines fascinating.

Felt yardageThe felt I use for Cotton & Flax coasters is high quality, eco-friendly, comes in highly saturated colors which are a perfect canvas for my bold patterns. The high standards for fabric dyeing in Germany make this felt safe for everyday use in your home, and safe for the Earth! I order several yards of this luxuriously thick felt at a time, and then hand silkscreen print my patterns onto the felt before cutting it down to size.

Cotton & Flax printingCotton & Flax coaster assembly

So there you have it, a glimpse into how Cotton & Flax coasters are made. You can find lots of fun patterned coasters in the shop, grab a couple sets for your next cocktail party!

Cotton & Flax coasters

Printing (and not printing)

printingI know I promised you a post with a more in depth look at my printing process, but something pretty out of the ordinary happened over the weekend… I took two days off from printing! It was nice to rest my back muscles a little, and enjoy the first days of summer. I am working with a friend to develop a short video showing my printing process, but I’ll certainly be sharing more photos before then.