I have started bashing out some samples for my shift dress, as truth be told I’m still undecided as to which design to go with for the final dress.  This sample shows a screen print on half the wool and close-knit tufts on the other half.

I really like the effect [I would say that wouldn’t I?].  The next sample on this theme will be a black print with black tufts graduating towards pale grey. I have a feeling that will be stunning.

When I am making my fabrics and products for interiors I always screen print a grid on the reverse of my fabric so that I can follow the lines when I’m tufting.  You work on the reverse of the fabric with a tufting machine and my designs require precise straight lines to achieve the effect I’m seeking.  I haven’t ever tufted at right angles across the grid before so decided to have a go at this using different coloured grey threads and tufting 5 rows a piece moving across the fabric.  This was the effect created.

For the final sample of this session I was playing around with different tones of grey thread and staggering them in horizontal lines across the wool fabric with a view to having this pattern travel across the dress from one side to the other. Going from dark to light.

My next step will be to scale some of these ideas up to dress size to see what it looks like.  I’m veering definitely towards the printed and tufted combo. What do you think?

Anna Gravelle