Leahna Maciocia: Print room Flock, 7th Nov

Today I tried flocking for the first time. The colours available were appropriate for my palette and I wanted to add a different texture to my designs.

The first (blue) sample turned out a little uneven. At first I wasn't sure if this was an illusion; the flock on the discharged white parts of the fabric seemed thinner, and the untouched black parts of the fabric thicker. This effect, although technically incorrect, still fits in with the TRON aesthetic and give the impression of movement. It was in the press for 30 seconds, and I used 6 pulls of the squeegee with the Texiflock LL glue.

uneven flocking still gives a TRON-like effect

To rule out the colour of the fabric underneath the flock as a reason for the patchy finished look, I pigment printed onto the white shape in red before adding the red flock on top. I didn't iron the pigment before adding the glue, which I probably should have done. Again, the sample went into the press for 30 seconds but this time I used 8 pulls in different directions.

large lace/animal shape after discharge and pigment print

large lace/animal shape after discharge, pigment and flocking

uneven laying down of the flock, gives an interesting effect

For the third and final flock sample I used 8 heavy pulls in different directions for the glue, and realised that the flock paper wasn't coming off easily enough after 30 seconds, so I put the sample back in the press a second time (total of 60 seconds in the press). This produced a much stronger result. Again this was done over an un-ironed red pigment base. Although there were a couple of small areas that were difficult to peel off, the overall look of the result is bold, bright and definitely TRON-like.