Tactile Textiles-Immersive Moss

About MA Linear Drawings and Paintings MA Light Design MA Tactile Textiles MA Prints/Murals
MA Immersive Environments

As part of the Immersive Environment, I wanted to design tactile moss that can be applied to soft furnishings to further immerse the viewer into nature, engaging the senses and providing something that can be touched and stroked.

Touch is one of our key senses; it can indicate when something is warm and safe or rough and uncomfortable.

I wanted to design something aesthetically pleasing and imitate moss that can be applied to surfaces and is soft to the touch.

I initially experimented with different yarns and materials to create a hand-tufting outcome, as shown in the image on the right.

Once I established the hand tufting technique I intended to use, I experimented further with different yarns and colours. I used 100% cotton, 50%cotton and 50% bamboo and 100% wool to see what the yarn was like and how it felt.

I tufted a variety of patches to experiment, as shown below.

I experimented with standard tufting, cutting the loops and leaving the ends uncut to create a different type of texture.

As part of my experimentation, I first looked at screen printing textures on the fabric before tufting it into the material to create a different type of texture. This created some interesting work.

The initial patches I experimented with worked best for the immersive environment I wanted to create. I mocked up how the patches would look on a high-back winged armchair called Stanmon armchair to show how I visualised the patches looking. I also experimented with colour schemes as per the designs below.

I looked at creating moss with longer loops and threads for further moss development.

I developed new patches that have a variety of different textures and densities. I photographed them in nature against rocks and by water to see how the moss blends back in with the natural environment.