What is Surface Textile Design?

Surface textile design is defined as: the art of changing the appearance of natural and synthetic surfaces by the application of traditional, stylized, digitized, and illusionary techniques to embellish a product. It’s also the art of enhancing a surface’s structure by applying three-dimensional techniques, such as weaving, knitting, embroidery, lace, devoré, beading, and embossing.

Surface textile design encompasses the coloring, patterning, and structuring of fiber and fabric. This involves creative exploration of processes such as dyeing, painting, printing, stitching, embellishing, quilting, weaving, knitting, felting, and papermaking.

Surface textile design techniques use colorants (dye, pigments, paints, natural dye stuffs).

Colorants are defined as any material applied to cloth that imparts color to it. Dye is a colorant that chemically bonds with the fibers. Pigment is a colorant that adheres to the surface of the fibers. Painting is the application of a colorant to the surface of a cloth in a non-repetitious manner by means of a brush, sponges, or other instrument. Printing is the application of a colorant to the surface of a cloth to create a repeatable design by means of a prepared surface which is pressed against the cloth.

Textile printing techniques may be broadly categorised into five styles:

Direct printing, in which colourants containing dyes, thickeners, and the mordants or substances necessary for fixing the colour on the cloth are printed in the desired pattern. These techniques include hand painting, block printing and silk screen. 

The printing of a mordant in the desired pattern prior to dyeing cloth; the color adheres only where the mordant was printed. Used today mainly in dyeing with natural dyes.

Resist dyeing, in which a wax or other substance is printed onto fabric which is subsequently dyed. The waxed areas do not accept the dye, leaving uncoloured patterns against a coloured ground. Batik, shibori, adire, mud cloth are examples of resist dyeing. 

Discharge printing, in which a bleaching agent is printed onto previously dyed fabrics to remove some or all of the colour.

Digital textile printing, also known as direct to garment printing, DTG printing, and digital garment printing is a process of printing on textiles and garments using specialized or modified inkjet technology. Inkjet printing on fabric is also possible with an inkjet printer by using fabric sheets with a removable paper backing. Today major inkjet technology manufacturers can offer specialized products designed for direct printing on textiles, not only for sampling but also for lots of production.

This information has been compiled from various web sources including the V&A Museum, Wikipedia, the Encyclopedia Britannica and other textile related sites.