Month: July 2014

‘The Handprinted Home’ by Jenny McCabe Book Review

Jenny McCabe’s new book ‘The Handprinted Home’ features 35 gorgeous printing projects to make our homes the envy of all our friends.

Jenny has been making her own hand printed and handmade textiles as Coo & Co since 2009 and we love her stuff on Folksy!

The projects in her new book, published earlier this year, capture the same handmade, nature-inspired style that can be found in her own work. Projects
range from fifteen minute Oops-I-forgot-to-buy-a-birthday-present ideas to more lengthy projects for a weekend fling! 

Techniques used include screen printing, stamping, stencilling, lino cutting and dip dyeing – all with a combination of simple equipment and the odd household
item.

Included are separate sections explaining lots of printing and sewing techniques and all the projects are in a step-by-step format with hand-drawn illustrations.
This should help both the complete beginners and experienced print-maker/sewers amongst us make (to name a few) bird-print tea towels, ombre bed linen,
giant floor cushions and fern print coasters. And if the idea of drawing out your own designs sends you into a state of panic, don’t worry, the back
of the book is loaded with drawings and templates for us to pinch. Thanks, Jenny!

You can get your hands on the book here

Want to get stuck in? Here are some of the things we think you might need to get going on a few of Jenny’s makes:

We think we’ll start with a bit of Honeycomb Bunting for our new workshop…

Printing Postcards onto Ply!

Our Japanese Ply is also perfect for posting – thin and light enough to be classed as a standard letter by Royal Mail. Who wouldn’t want to receive this
hardwearing postcard? This method of printing can also be used for paper and is a great low-cost press that will give you surprisingly good, consistent
results.

You will need:

  • Japanese Ply – two sheets one as a print block and one as the postcard
  • Newspaper
  • Piece of wood that is larger than your Ply – try to use a flat piece as you need the pressure to be consistent.
  • Your weight!

Place some newspaper onto the floor and place your inked up Ply facing upwards on top.

Place your Plywood Postcard on top. It is good to give this a light sand and a brush to remove any debris.

Place some more newspaper on top. This is especially important when printing on paper.

Place your piece of wood on top – we used an old floorboard.

Stand on to the floor board for a few seconds. Try not to move as you do not want the image smudging.

The finished postcard!

Printing Postcards onto Ply!

Our Japanese Ply is also perfect for posting – thin and light enough to be classed as a standard letter by Royal Mail. Who wouldn’t want to receive this
hardwearing postcard? This method of printing can also be used for paper and is a great low-cost press that will give you surprisingly good, consistent
results.

You will need:

  • Japanese Ply – two sheets one as a print block and one as the postcard
  • Newspaper
  • Piece of wood that is larger than your Ply – try to use a flat piece as you need the pressure to be consistent.
  • Your weight!

Place some newspaper onto the floor and place your inked up Ply facing upwards on top.

Place your Plywood Postcard on top. It is good to give this a light sand and a brush to remove any debris.

Place some more newspaper on top. This is especially important when printing on paper.

Place your piece of wood on top – we used an old floorboard.

Stand on to the floor board for a few seconds. Try not to move as you do not want the image smudging.

The finished postcard!