Department
of Design

A surface pattern collection screen printed with natural dye.

The interest for natural dye has increased together with the concern in sustainability and environmental awareness within the textile industry.  Natural dye is one of the oldest techniques when it comes to textile production, but when synthetic dyestuffs were discovered, the usage of the technique decreased. Today, the technique is slowly coming back together with the awareness in sustainability. However, when it comes to surface patterns the expression is quite limited to patterns created by dyeing techniques, muted colors, and nature as an obvious inspiration.

This degree work explores natural dye print through screen printing a surface pattern collection and the project advocates for and is an addition to the field of natural dye print. The methods used were drawing, digital sketching and screen printing.

The female body is a design theme in the work and the intention is simply to portray the body as it is. The motive has not been chosen to provoke, to address a political issue or to evoke discussion.

The result is three surface patterns printed with different printing techniques on different fibers. A significant part of the result is the reference library containing numerous printed samples and can be used for further research within the field. Choice of fabric and scale of design was done with fashion fabric in mind, however, to focus on the design and technique the designs are not presented on any kind of product. Tests were performed to try out the light fastness of the different colorants on different fibers.

Photos: Daniela Ferro

Contact:
E-mail: lisahuls@live.com
Instagram: @silkesdotter