Author: handprinted

‘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!

Ice Dyeing

You will need:

  • White prewashed T-shirt
  • Procion MX Dyes
  • Soda Ash (fixative)
  • Dust Mask
  • Calgon PT (if you are dyeing in a hard water area)
  • Rubber Gloves and an apron – these dyes will stain.
  • Ice
  • Cooling rack or similar
  • Plastic bowl
  • Bubble wrap or plastic bag

Mix three tablespoons of Soda Ash with warm water. If you are working in a hard water area, add one tablespoon of Calgon.

Soak your T-shirt in the Soda Ash solution for 15 minutes.

Place a cooling rack over a plastic bowl – this is to ensure that the dyes and ice can drip through the fabric and the fabric does not sit in the excess
dye. Squeeze out as much of the Soda Ash as you can (squeeze it back into the jug as this solution can be used again). Scrunch your T-shirt into a
rectangular shape. These mounds of T-shirt will cause the dye to spread in mysterious ways!

Cover the T-shirt with Ice.

Wearing a dust mask, sprinkle dry Procion MX dye onto the ice in a random pattern. A dry brush is good for this. We used Indigo, Scarlet and Olive for
the T-shirt on the left and Lemon Yellow, Magenta and Turquoise for the one on the right.

Cover with bubble wrap or a plastic bag and leave for 24 hours.

This is how the T-shirts will look after 24 hours. Remove bubble wrap and rinse with cold water until water runs clear.

Wash on a 40’c cycle to remove excess dye using a non-biological washing powder/liquid or Metapex.

Click here for printable PDF instructions.

Ice Dyeing

You will need:

  • White prewashed T-shirt
  • Procion MX Dyes
  • Soda Ash (fixative)
  • Dust Mask
  • Calgon PT (if you are dyeing in a hard water area)
  • Rubber Gloves and an apron – these dyes will stain.
  • Ice
  • Cooling rack or similar
  • Plastic bowl
  • Bubble wrap or plastic bag

Mix three tablespoons of Soda Ash with warm water. If you are working in a hard water area add one tablespoon of Calgon.

Soak your T-shirt in the Soda Ash solution for 15 minutes.

Place a cooling rack over a plastic bowl – this is to ensure that the dyes and ice can drip through the fabric and the fabric does not sit in the excess
dye. Squeeze out as much of the Soda Ash as you can (squeeze it back into the jug as this solution can be used again). Scrunch your T-shirt into a
rectangular shape. These mounds of T-shirt will cause the dye to spread in mysterious ways!

Cover the T-shirt with Ice. 

Wearing a dust mask, sprinkle dry Procion MX dye onto the ice in a random pattern. A dry brush is good for this. We used Indigo, Scarlet and Olive for
the T-shirt on the left and Lemon Yellow, Magenta and Turquoise for the one on the right.

Cover with bubble wrap or a plastic bag and leave for 24 hours.

This is how the T-shirts will look after 24 hours. Remove bubble wrap and rinse with cold water until water runs clear.

Wash on a 40’c cycle to remove excess dye using a non-biological washing powder/liquid or Metapex.

Click here for printable PDF instructions. 

Woodcut Postcards

A simple step by step to printing postcards using Japanese Ply and Caligo Safe Wash Relief Inks.

You will need:

Draw your design using the pencil onto thin paper (photocopy weight works well)

Place your image facing down onto the Japanese Ply and rub the back of the image with a pencil. Do not press too hard as you do not want to cause indentations
in the Ply.

Carefully lift the paper away and you should be able to see your image faintly printed onto the Ply. This method is great for lettering as it reverses
it.

Go over the faint image in pencil – again do not press too hard as you do not want your pencil marks to indent the Ply as this will make it difficult to
print.

Cut away the outside edge of the image using a small U gouge. Remember to always cut away from yourself, keep your hand that is not holding the cutting
tool behind the blade at all times. You could also use a hand guard or a bench hook.

Clear the remaining Ply that you do not wish to print using a larger U.

Sand down your Ply to remove any excess bits that will spoil your print.

Brush away any sawdust using a dry brush – a nail brush is perfect for this.

Roll out a thin layer of ink onto a glass slab or an inking tray.

Roll a thin layer of this ink onto your Ply.

Place your postcard on top of the inked Ply and holding the card firm use a Bamboo Baren in a circular motion to transfer the ink from the Ply to the postcard.

You can hold one corner down firmly to check how your ink transfer is progressing and if you need to concentrate on specific areas.

Remove the postcard and leave to dry.

The finished card!

Woodcut Postcards

A simple step by step to printing postcards using Japanese Ply and Caligo Safe Wash Relief Inks.

You will need:

Draw your design using the pencil onto thin paper (photocopy weight works well)

Place your image facing down onto the Japanese Ply and rub the back of the image with a pencil. Do not press too hard as you do not want to cause indentations
in the Ply.

Carefully lift the paper away and you should be able to see your image faintly printed onto the Ply. This method is great for lettering as it reverses
it.

Go over the faint image in pencil – again do not press too hard as you do not want your pencil marks to indent the Ply as this will make it difficult to
print.

Cut away the outside edge of the image using a small U gouge. Remember to always cut away from yourself, keep your hand that is not holding the cutting
tool behind the blade at all times. You could also use a hand guard or a bench hook.

Clear the remaining Ply that you do not wish to print using a larger U.

Sand down your Ply to remove any excess bits that will spoil your print.

Brush away any sawdust using a dry brush – a nail brush is perfect for this.

Roll out a thin layer of ink onto a glass slab or an inking tray.

Roll a thin layer of this ink onto your Ply.

Place your postcard on top of the inked Ply and holding the card firm use a Bamboo Baren in a circular motion to transfer the ink from the Ply to the postcard.

You can hold one corner down firmly to check how your ink transfer is progressing and if you need to concentrate on specific areas.

Remove the postcard and leave to dry.

The finished card!

Registering Screen Printed Layers on Fabric Without a Registration Table

You will need:

  • Mount board cut into an ‘L’ shape right angle
  • A plastic sheet such as table covering with a true right angle on the bottom left-hand corner. It is useful to put some coloured tape on this corner
    to make it more rigid and easier to see

Line up the bottom left-hand corner of the plastic sheet with the inside edge of the mount board right angle. If you are using a paper stencil, place the
stencil in position on top of the plastic.

Align the screen with the inside edge of the mount board right angle.

Print the image onto the plastic sheet.

Remove screen and check alignment. If you are not happy, realign the film and the mount board right angle.

Remove the plastic sheet but keep the mount board right angle in the same position. Align your screen with the mount board right angle and print.

The image is now printed onto the fabric in the correct position.

Align the next print on top of the next image and position the mount board right angle at the bottom left-hand corner. Use the mount board corner to align
the screen.

Continue until the fabric is printed. This method is really low tech and you have lots of flexibility with rotation, positioning etc.

The film can be wiped clean with a damp cloth.

To download the instructions please click here!

Here’s one we made earlier!

Registering Screen Printed Layers on Fabric Without a Registration Table

You will need:

  • Mount board cut into an ‘L’ shape right angle
  • A plastic sheet such as table covering with a true right angle on the bottom left-hand corner. It is useful to put some coloured tape on this corner
    to make it more rigid and easier to see

Line up the bottom left-hand corner of the plastic sheet with the inside edge of the mount board right angle. If you are using a paper stencil, place the
stencil in position on top of the plastic.

Align the screen with the inside edge of the mount board right angle.

Print the image onto the plastic sheet.

Remove screen and check alignment. If you are not happy, realign the film and the mount board right angle.

Remove the plastic sheet but keep the mount board right angle in the same position. Align your screen with the mount board right angle and print.

The image is now printed onto the fabric in the correct position.

Align the next print on top of the next image and position the mount board right angle at the bottom left-hand corner. Use the mount board corner to align
the screen.

Continue until the fabric is printed. This method is really low tech and you have lots of flexibility with rotation, positioning etc.

The film can be wiped clean with a damp cloth.

To download the instructions please click here!

Here’s one we made earlier!

Using Speedball Speed Clean to Remove Screen Filler

You will need:

  • Speedball Speed Clean
  • A nylon paint brush
  • A nylon scrubbing brush
  • Lots of hot water
  • A screen that has been used with screen filler

Use a nylon brush to coat both sides of your screen with Screen Filler. Leave for 3-5 minutes.

Use a nylon scrubbing brush to work the Speed Clean into the screen.

Use a jet of hot water to wash the screen filler out of the screen. Repeat as necessary, if the filler has been on the screen for a while you might need
to repeat a few times.

Hold the screen up to the light to check that all the screen filler has been removed. The screen could be stained from either the filler or the ink but
as long as you can see through all areas clearly you will have successfully removed the blockages.

You can download the instructions here or watch the YouTube video here.