New Textiles 2011

For this nonwoven, I decided to experiment with acrylic paints to see if they could be incorporated into a fabric. During the class, I was inspired by the silicone material, but thought the molding process was limiting and time consuming for textile applications. Making a mold takes time, and it is hard to control the topography of the finished product from the mold. Hence, I played around with some glue, acrylic paints and felt.

Unfortunately, the glue (Elmer’s) dried hard, and did not make an amazing fabric as it was very brittle. The acrylic however, dried into a splendidly soft and flexible material. Varying the paint colors and the way the paint was applied gave the top surface an interesting texture and surface aesthetic that I found very appealing. Next, I tried mixing felt and paint. Instead of painting on top of the felt (too similar to fabric paint), I decided to put the felt on top of the paint. This version has a combination of surface textures – the smooth back of the acrylic paint, the rough bumpy top surface of the paint, and the soft fuzziness of the felt. The felt also stuck pretty well to the paint.

I would like to further experiment with felt and acrylic paint. I think that putting the two together in a fashion that is similar to woven structures (maybe a grid of sorts?) will be quite fascinating. The fact that the acrylic can just be painted on gives rise to a large design space where one can paint whatever fabric structure one desires, and I think that property can be exploited for further use.