vintage french fabric

I love the dainty motifs and soft colors of these vintage french textiles found on flickr, the top picture courtesy of hbgordon, and the last 4 from petits details.I try to take note of design details I'm attracted to (and not), especially the size of decorative elements, repeats, ground colors and design etc.Lots to learn from these old fabrics....

spanish dress

These are beautiful pochoir prints of traditional spanish folk costumes from the 1920's.I love the layers of vibrant colors and the floral details.Pochoir prints are a precurser to modern screen prints:multiple layers of color are added to a lithograph, giving a wonderful, vibrant look.These prints are available for sale here.

Sari border inspiration

                                                                            For me,these saris are addictive eye candy.

sari border inspiration: Act 2

I have always been a big fan of indian textiles.I love the jewelled colors, metallic embellishments and the detailed designs found in sari borders.Yummy hues.....

Artistic Printing....beautiful ornamental book

The Handy Book of Artistic Printing by Doug Clouse and Angela Voulanges

I just got this book today from Amazon.Love the illustrations which display antique type (I'm a big fan of typography), ornamental borders and flourishes.A real treat and highly inspirational, no matter what you're designing!

Turkey Reds

I love highly ornate and colorful designs, so it's no surprise that my eye was drawn to these "turkey reds" as they're called.

   Here area a few interesting points about these designs:

*" turkey red" refers to a dye process that produces a bright, solid scarlet color on cotton

* brought to Europe by Jewish and Syrian dyers from Levant (the Mid-East then referred to as "Turkey")

* it was mainly considered an export item for the colonies in the 18th century

* the color source is "madder root" which produces a very lightfast, bright red color

* the process is labor-intensive, expensive and limited to cotton

* a reliable colorfast and cheaper synthetic red was produced in the 1920"s

* found in modern day bandanas

Not sure I would wear them, but could see them framed on a wall......

Paper Illusions by Isabelle de Borchgrave

I came across this beautiful book in our local library.It illustrates the exquisite work of Isabelle de Borchgrave who "with a single sheet of paper, she creates the most beautiful dresses, the finest costumes or, simply, a chain of white roses....".Many more examples found in the book Paper Illusions :The Art of Isabelle de Borchgrave. And to think I can barely wrap a present......

In my research into surface design,  3 main components  are  stressed  :

1. Design- which consists of an idea, theme or motif that will be the basis of the pattern.

2. Colorways- the color combinations the pattern will be created in.This can be very important and can make or break the overall design.

3. Repeats- the repetition of said motif without interruption or breaks .

I will try to approach each of my designs keeping these factors in mind.So far, I've mainly been concentrating on motif design and not giving much thought to the other 2 factors.I must tell you, repeats are very difficult and take practice, not just in getting a seamless repeat, but also deciding on the appropriate repeat for each motif.......a challenge, at least for for me.

I'm going to show a simple motif at the top bottom  , with 3 different repeats to illustrate.

They all have a different feel, depending on the density of what I'll call "ground coverage".The first is a half drop repeat, the second is a half drop of a medallion made with the motif and the third is a straight repeat.