Anchor-chief Handkerchief

I recently completed a set of handkerchiefs for some friends of mine who had birthdays. I had originally wanted to do a maze motif, but I liked the idea of doing an Anchor-chief: a handkerchief with an anchor on it. I wanted to try a project from a book I got for Christmas, Printing by Hand by Lena Corwin. I had a fiasco with printing before, but I was sure this time would be better. Some of the pictures are a little blurry, my apologies.


I had to make a design that would allow me to paint the negative space of the image. If you've ever made stencils, you know that the final design has to connect so that the pieces don't fall out. Not so with this design! I drew and cut out a design on freezer paper, which sticks to the cloth when ironed on.


I used acrylic fabric ink. I had to blot the brush so that the ink wouldn't bleed through to the other side. It took many coats to get the color saturation that I wanted.

Once the ink dried, I carefully peeled off the stencil.



Then I added initials in the left and right sides of the anchor.


Here's a close-up of the anchor.


I was very satisfied with my final result. I think next time I make a handkerchief I will do an even more complex design. It is harsh on the eyes to cut out minute details, but it looks good. My next printing project will be some cloth napkins. I'll be printing jellyfish on them with a handmade stamp. I also hope to print onto fabrics for curtains and sheets. Working with my hands is relaxing and so I'm going to do more of it!