Fakeha Naeem Textile Designer

I was taken by a circular Chinese motif that got me to work out something on my own, just to make a different style or pattern using the same image. Here is how I went about the work and what I ended up with.   I tried making this as simple as possible with as many detailed instructions as I could have. These are not the only options or ways to go about a certain motif,just think out of the box and imagine how you would like to see a certain design or pattern. Creativity does not have only one method or direction. Enjoy!

Every artist has a certain area where they feel most comfortable, a preference of a certain medium , inspiration from either nature, man made objects or photography etc similarly pen and ink, charcoal and oil paints are mediums that I can mostly relate to and am extremely comfortable with. Pen and Ink and random doodling comes naturally to me, its the way my mind thinks and clams itself, its a safe heaven. Since I enjoy  creating eye movement and have from time to time created designs and patterns on canvas. Connective art is for me the best way to express my work and to my understanding the most effective way to create eye movement in my designs, somehow the expansion of various canvases capturing a design of mine makes it limitless with no boundaries. For me one canvas restricts me to a certain boundary and by using canvases to create a painting in a form of connective art is my way of creating a limitless boundless art work where I decide when to...

I created a series of hand dyed scarves in silk using reactive dyes. Other then the basic techniques of resist design I also created Batik designs using hard and soft wax.Interestingly, the soft wax allowed the designs to emerge in its full form disallowing cracking where as the hard wax would crumple when left to dry giving more cracks and allowing the dye to seep through making the designs on the scarves less prominent. In a few scarves I took the liberty of using both kind of waxes to get a fading as well as a sudden emergence of designs in areas within a scarf. The effect were very interesting. The best way to wash these scarves was the usual method, cold wash followed by a warm wash, pass the fabric through synthrapol (dilute soap water) and repeat the process of cold and warm water till the excess dye has bled out.Pat dry and iron the scarves. After usage of a silk scarf and when you decide to wash it I suggest cold wash only. Here are some of the...

  Going for a closer look on the scarves.

Tie and dyes are famous amongst all age groups, possible because of the instant gratification it gives us and also the fact that the creative options are endless. There are no prerequisites required. Just need soda ash to activate the dyes and the dye bath so that the colors remain binded to the fabric. I bought some silk scarves from Dharma and decided to do another project with reactive "cold dyes" instead of  traditional "acid dyes" and the results were amazing. For these particular scarves I used clamp technique and I used elastic bands and clamps in various sizes.  Here is what I came up with. I call it my Pink Collection.

For us designers be it in any field we are in some way or the other proficient in creating a a design or a motif out of a motif and make it our own. Inspirations taking from somewhere or the other defines and tempts us to create a version which depicts our take on a certain form of pattern. For us it is similar to giving a comment on a certain notion just visually rather than verbally. This was my take on a small circular filigree motif that I found and decided to create a south Asian inspired jewelry /necklace piece which I then joined in to give a rather heavy lace like damask look to the design. I have written down instruction within the image to give an idea on how I went about it. To the readers of my blog perhaps You would like to try this exercise and post your take on a certain image on my blog. It would be great to see some creative pieces.

I had a client who approached me to make designs for his school club and we worked together to come up with something to his liking and this is what we came up with. He loved it and I enjoyed working. Its all about making T shirts more personal, fun and  meaningful. I hope you like our little project.