It's a relief when a custom print is successful. It requires attention to detail as mistakes are expensive, both in terms of time and wasted fabric. I've just printed this Budgie Chrysanth panel (in fact it's still drying on the print table). Hard to see in these images taken in artificial light but it is pretty damn perfect!
The customer saw my work earlier in the year at Selvedge Fair and phoned to ask if I could print a fabric panel to hang on the wall of her new kitchen, matching the colours in her blind (a Sanderson fabric (left)). Here's the printed colour swatch I sent her...
Once the colour was okayed, I sample printed to check number of squeegee pulls as this can vary hugely depending on the dye, type and weight of fabric etc. Very glad I did this, if I'd guessed I think I would have got it wrong...
There are fine details in areas of this design. Too many pulls with the squeegee, and the white of the Budgies eyes will fill in, however not enough pulls and other areas will not have enough print coverage, so it's tricky and had to be just right...
Learning to stay away from my feet when I'm printing - Luna...
