Bunting Trials

I decided to display the flags I have created for my "Kaleidentity" research project as bunting. The justification for this creative decision was informed by several participants expressing their discomfort with the concept of having their identity represented on a flag, due to the association of flags with acts of national violence and oppression. Bunting, which is usually used in a celebratory context - often at events such as sports galas and birthday parties - seems more neutral and significantly less intimidatory in its nature than a large textiles piece dispayed on a flag pole, it also emphasises the intention of the project to celebrate the diverse and complex identities of my research participants.

Having designed all of the flags, which I have decided to print in lino-cut - my next task was to figure out how to construct the bunting. I used some spare off-cuts of fabric to trial some different options - I had decided on using satin because of its shimmering effect which works really nicely with the printing ink (a couple of pariticpants remarked on how much they liked the effect it created) ... Although I will admit that it's an incredibly difficult material with which to work and it took me a while to get the stitch tension right.

I wanted to trial some of the different stitch patterns my sewing machine offers, however, I did not get off to a good start - creating a tangled knot of thread on the first attempt.

It became apparent that only some of the stitch options would work with the lightweight satin material. Of the different options that were possible, my favourites were the zig zag stitch and the leaf/vine stitch.

I also tried stitching with some metallic colour threads I bought, but as I suspected - the thread was too fragile and brittle for the sewing machine and broke too often.

I tried some different options for stitching the flags:

Using a simple running stitch around the hem - I don't think this works because the satin is too non-compliant to make the edge neat and the single stitch really exposes this and distorts the shape of the flag.

The same colour thread and satin in zig-zag stitch - I think the wider stitch looks much better than the running stitch.

Different colour thread and satin in zig-zag stitch - I preferred the narrower stitch I used here and I like contrast in colour between the thread and the satin.

Using ribbon to hem the satin (rather than double siding the satin and hemming together) - I don't think this worked, it looks too messy and it's impossibly dificult to get the edges straight.

Different coloured thread and satin in a vine stitch - I really like this stitch, I think it works well with the unruly satin and represents growth.

I also needed to think about how to attach the flags to the connecting ribbon, so I tried folding the edge over to create a hem loop - again it didn't really work with the running stitch, but it worked much better with the vine stitch.

I then attempted printing some of the flag designs onto the test bunting (because the off-cuts I used weren't cut to size, sometimes they are too small for the print plate - when I make the final flags I will ensure they are an adequate size).

I think that having contrasting coloured thread and satin works when the printing ink matches the thread but not when an additional colour is used.

Ensuring adequate border around the print is particularly important because when the flag surface is wonky and uneven due to proximity to the hem, this impacted on the resulting print...

The print turned out best on the single-sided satin because the surface was much flatter...

The print also looks great when the thread matches the satin, ie. the flag needs to feature a maximum of two colours - so the thread colour should either match the satin or the printing ink.