vintage inspiration - textile printing kit

It was definitely the pink, aqua, and black color combination that first attracted me to the box of this craft kit. I just love the use of limited color palettes in vintage illustrations and this one really does it perfectly. What I didn’t expect to find was a complete kit, never used, with all the goodies inside intact. Oh the treasures!

Inside this sturdy box are all the components of a “Do-it-yourself Textile Printing Kit”: textile inks, brushes, stencils and instruction booklets galore. The real treasure for me is in these printed materials. Not only are they a peek back in time, but they are beautiful examples of graphic design and typography. Don’t you love the pattern of apples, birds, butterflies and posies on the cover of the main booklet?

The page above lays out the options for decorating your fabric. A brief description of each method; stencil, screen printing, hand painting, hand blocking, and air brush,  is accompanied by a drawing that illustrates the technique. Additional instructional materials in the box give the crafter super detailed, step-by-step instructions for each of these methods. Try one! Try them all!

The main booklet has great black and white photos of sample projects. I really wish I could see these in color. I know that they were amazing. It’s sort of like Lucy’s dresses on I Love Lucy in that you have to use your imagination. You know that they are really beautiful and colorful, but you only can see them, in all their glory, in your head. The layout of the pages pairs a stark black and white photo with a facing page of text on a yellow background. Pops of red accent titles and sections throughout.

Here is a close up of a suggested color palette they call ” The Popular House and Garden Colors”. Instructions and formulas are given to mix up colors like Flame, Middy Blue and Phlox Pink. I love the way they printed these colors in the booklet with a mottled appearance and uneven edges to mimic hand mixed colors. Like someone whipped out a brush, just before you turned the page, and casually painted these swatches.

I return to this kit and its brochures and instructions again and again when looking for inspiration and it never lets me down. I see something new each time. The sad thing is, in all the years I’ve had this kit,  I’ve never taken the step to actually print on fabric. The pots of color in the kit are long dried out making them useless. Maybe it’s time for me to actually experiment with this idea. Hmmm….I think it’s time to put this on my to-do list!

-Susie