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One of the wonderful aspects of learning how to block print is creating art that is also useful. You can block print onto fabric and use that in all sorts of ways. I regularly block print on fabric, such as tea towels and have made many scarves over the years. You can create your own t-shirts, tote bags and more. Let your imagination run wild and be creative!
Watch me talk about block printing onto fabric on my YouTube channel.
Tools and supplies
Today, I’ll demo printing onto a pre-made flour sack tea towel.You’ll need a few supplies:
Carving stage tools
- Lino block. I’m using a Nasco Safety-Kut linoleum. It’s a soft, rubbery material that prints nicely onto fabric. I also recommend Speedball Speedy-Carve, which is a pink block that you might be able to find in stores more easily.
- Carving tools. Try the Speedball Lino Cutter which has several carving blades that you can swap out.
- Pencil for drawing out your design before carving.
Printing stage tools
- Fabric block printing ink. I highly recommend the Speedball Fabric Block Printing Ink.
- Fabric. I’m using a 100% cotton flour sack tea towel. You can also use another fabric that has a fairly tight weave and is fairly smooth. T-shirt cotton works well, as does quilting cotton.
- Brayer for rolling out the ink.
- Plexiglass to roll the ink out onto.
- Scrap paper for test prints.
Carving your design
If this is your first block print, I suggest reading my blog post on designing and carving a linocut for beginners. It’s much more in-depth than this post and the same techniques can be used as this stage.
When creating a design for printing on fabric, keep the details to a minimum and keep the overall size somewhat small. You’ll have more success doing smaller and simpler designs. Larger designs are possible but smaller is easier.
First, draw your design onto your block with a pencil. Take your lino cutter and carve away the block around your design. I start with removing a single width of block using the smallest v gouge. Once I’ve done that, I change the carving blade to one size larger and carve more away. Then I swap blades again to the largest and carve the rest of the block.
Printing your design
Once you’re happy with your carved design, you can move onto the printing stage. Lay your fabric onto a flat, clean surface with the side you want to print facing upwards.
Squeeze bit of the ink onto your piece of plexiglass. Take your brayer, dab it into the ink, then start rolling it onto the plexiglass. Roll back and forth, lift up your brayer and move it to a different spot of ink and continue rolling. This ensures you apply a layer of ink on the entire brayer surface.
Once you feel you have enough ink on your brayer, roll the ink onto the block. Do a test print on a scrap piece of paper. Reapply ink onto your block, and do at least one more test print.
When printing onto fabric, you will apply more ink than you do when printing on paper. You’ll get the knack of it, with practice.
Now, let’s print for real. Apply a good layer of ink onto your brayer, then roll it onto your block. Make sure you apply ink to all parts of the design. Carefully pick up your block by the edges, not touching the ink, and flip it face-side down, still holding it. Place it where you want to print your design and press on the back of it. Ensure you press it well so that all parts of your design press into the fabric.
Now, lift up your block without shifting it or you risk getting stray ink on your fabric. If you want to print the same design onto your fabric, reapply ink to your block with each print. Otherwise you will end up with a very pale print with little ink.
If you’re using Speedball fabric block printing ink, you’ll need to let it dry for a week for it to be permanent. I gently move it onto a laundry drying rack, making sure to not let your fabric touch any of the fresh ink. After a week, your tea towel is ready to wash and use!
Get your supplies
Pick up some supplies for printing on fabric at your local art supply shop or on Amazon:
US
Canada
