Puffins

A while back I joined the Sew Social weekend in Amsterdam, where I met a group of international sewing bloggers. As part of the program, we got to follow a screen printing workshop by Barbara of Bobbinhood.

As you know, I love to design prints and have used various techniques to print fabric, including freezer paper stenciling, using discharge paste and sunprinting. But screenprinting was a novel technique for me, and the workshop was a great introduction.

I arrived at the workshop with some blue-grey jersey that I had bought at the fabric market that same morning, and some printed photos of kingfishers, with the idea to use those as a design. But I changed my mind and went for puffins instead. As a child I once spent a whole day at a Norwegian cliff watching these funny birds (on the island Runde, to be precise), and I still vividly remember sitting on this grassy cliff with my family, with puffins all around us, flying off and on from the sea to their nests.

I figured that the characteristic shape of these birds could be captured in a relatively simple design, and I was really happy to see that this was indeed the case. It took me four hours of concentrated work (leaving hardly any time for a break or a chat with the other participants...), but at the end of the workshop I emerged from my concentration bubble with a nice 4-color print.

Next, the sewing. I made a Charlie polo (Zonen09), which is as simple to sew as a regular t-shirt, but looks just a bit more fancy. Plus it allowed me to let the colors of the print return in the collar and cuffs of the shirt.

I'm really happy with how it turned out. It's always fun to see your kids in one of your hand-made garments, but when the fabric design is yours as well, it's double the fun.

To see what the other participants made, head over to their blogs: Huisje Boompje Boefjes, Vera Luna, Inspinration, Dotta, Needle&Ted, Made by Toya, Craftstorming, As it seams, Fliegfederfrei, Miss Castelinhos, Compagnie M, Pienkel.