Patches made on my Gocco

Yesterday, I was excited to make my first attempt at printing on fabric using my gocco with the special fabric inks. I made two designs to use as freebie patches that will be included in orders from Argyle Whale. I made a llama proudly wearing handmade accessories and a bunny enjoying her handmade scarf. The bunny was inspired by a picture of the famous and always stylish, Coco.

As with most things, there were pluses and minuses to working with fabric on the gocco. I had fun making the patches but ran into enough difficulty that I wasn't inspired to make prints on fabric regularly.

the bad parts:
~ The ink was runnier and more prone to spreading so details were lost.
~ The fabric absorbs the ink pretty quickly and I needed to re-apply ink after about six prints.
~ The process is more expensive since it goes through the ink much more rapidly.
~ The prints need to be ironed to set the ink after they dry. That isn't such a big deal but it takes extra time.
~ I think that the steam from heat setting the inks is probably poisoning me.

the good parts:
~ Printing on fabric opens up lots of new possibilities with the gocco.
~ I think the fabric ink smells a little like butterscotch pudding.
~ It is still simpler and tidier than making a large silkscreen.
~ It looks pretty sharp!

I think the patch-making was a pretty worthwhile endeavor even though they took all night and are going to be given away for free. I made use of a lot of fabric that I had stashed for my LazerBeanz appliques which I don't think I'll be using anymore and I got to experiment in a low pressure way. Also, I figure that the extra layer of fabric in my mailers will protect my prints a little more.

I'm more in love with my little orange printing machine than ever with the addition of this new technique.