Motifs | Paisley Motif

Paisley Motif

The paisley motif originated in Kashmir in India. It is a fertility symbol based on the new shoot of a date palm. The motif is most well known for its use on Kashmiri shawls. The design found its way to England in the 1760s where copies of the original Kashmiri shawls were made in the Scottish weaving centre of Paisley. Hence the use of the Anglo-Saxon term paisley. In India the motif is known as kairy (mango) and buta (floral form) and in Kashmir it is kalanga or kalga.
The use of the paisley motif in furnishings is attributed to Napoleon's wife Josephine who had gowns, bedcovers and cushions made from the shawls. The French began making copies of the shawls and modified the design, adding long curling tips to the basic cone shape.
Arthur Liberty, an Englishman revived the popularity of the paisley design. It became recognised as the Liberty print and was used for home accessories. The paisley pattern is still popular today.

Goldwork Embroidery

Goldwork is the art of embroidery using metal threads. It is particularly prized for the way light plays on it. The term "goldwork" is used even when the threads are imitation gold, silver, or copper. The metal wires used to make the threads have never been entirely gold; they have always been gold-coated silver (silver-gilt) or cheaper metals, and even then the "gold" often contains a very low percent of real gold. Most metal threads are available in silver and sometimes copper as well as gold; some are available in colors as well.

Goldwork is always surface embroidery and free embroidery; the vast majority is a form of laid work or couching; that is, the gold threads are held onto the surface of the fabric by a second thread, usually of fine silk. The ends of the thread, depending on type, are simply cut off, or are pulled through to the back of the embroidery and carefully secured with the couching thread. A tool called a mellore or a stilleto is used to help position the threads and create the holes needed to pull them through.

Screen Printing and Hand Painting

Screen and block printing In printing, colored designs are applied to the surface of the cloth in the form of patterns. Color is usually applied as a paste containing pigments and a binding material. This is fixed by steaming or heating, and the excess color is removed by washing. Designs may be printed with stamps or carved wooden blocks, an art requiring great skill and accuracy on the part of both printer and block-maker. Silk screen printing is basically a stenciling process. The stencil carries the design to be printed. The screen consists of gauze stretched on a frame. A squeegee is used to force the dye through the exposed sections of screen.

Block and screen printing are mostly used for small print runs, craft work and one-off original designs.

Beading and Sequining

Beading and sequining add texture and a feeling of luxury to apparel and non-apparel. Beading and sequining should be designed, planned and worked on a garment before it is made up. The purposes of the item wil determine the choice of bead. Extra fabric should be allowed when cutting out in case there is some shrinkage. It is important to line all pieces of beading as this will prevent the threads getting caught.

When designing beading think of each bead as a single unit in the design. The design can then be created much like a mosaic. Beading should enhance the fabric or item not overwhelm it.

Some beading techniques are:

• Sewing down a single bead

• Sewing a continuous line of beads

• Stitching one bead on top of another

• Attaching a bead with its hole facing upwards

• Couching between beads in a continuous line