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Visual Art of Dream Flags
Taking the words of a Dream Flag Poem
and making them part of your Dream Flag Line
There are
three basic stages to this:
Poems Onto Fabric
Fabric Art
Dream Flag Lines
VISUAL ART: PDF
Download of Materials on All Stages
Poems Onto Fabric
It's a good
idea to think ahead to collect your materials for
this.
Visit the
CREATE section of our website for full
directions.
Here’s a link to a
one-page cheat sheet on supplies to obtain
for the flags.
You might want to check out
Melissa's ideas from the workshop in January
2008.
Basically, the
only thing that is required is that each Dream Flag
is 8 1/2" x 11" (hung vertically). We've seen
people use muslin, cotton, old sheets, even cut-up
blue plastic shower curtains. Anything goes.
You can check out the
Flag Gallery to see few examples.
Here are a
couple of tidbits of advice about fabric, beyond
what you'll get in the cheat sheet:
1) The
tighter the fabric weave, the easier it is to
write on the fabric
2) Practice
writing on the fabric you intend to use. Find the
pen or marker that works best with your fabric (i.e.
doesn’t bleed), so students won’t get frustrated
when copying their final poem onto the fabric. You
can buy fabric pens, but they run several dollars
each. Guard them or they’ll walk.
3) If you cut
the edges of the fabric with pinking shears, it will
ravel less.
4) If you have
access to a computer printer, there is a product
called Computer Printer Fabric. It comes in packets
of four 8 ˝” x 11” sheets of white muslin, each with
a special backing that allows it to run through your
standard printer.
We’ve used this
fabric for several years. Once a student’s poem is in
its final version, we print it onto the fabric. You
may tear off the fabric backing once the ink dries,
or leave it on until you finish decorating the
flag.
Computer
printer fabric at our local Jo-Ann Fabric store runs
about a dollar a sheet, if you wait for the sale and
get the educators’ 10% discount. June Tailor is the
name of the company that makes the fabric we use;
other companies also produce computer printer fabric
sheets.
For more
great detailed information on the computer printing
process, check out the Dream Flags Wiki entry of
Pete Endriss (of the John Wister School in
Philadelphia). He's helped print as many as 450
Dream Flags for his school many times.
Pete's Wiki Notes on Computer Printing
Visual Art on Fabric
There are many ways to decorate Dream
Flags. Some of them are noted on this site under
Create. Here are a couple of tips.
- Have
kids work on scraps of sheets or cloth before
doing the actual work on the Dream Flag. They
need to see that it's not like paper.
- If you
can, show them samples of Dream Flags from this
web site.
-There are some examples in the Share
section under
Flag Galleries. Check out the flags from
Berlin Community School,
Springside School,
John Wister School, and
The Agnes Irwin School. There area also
flags by teachers from a
conference. You can see a few other things
at the
Old Gallery Page from a previous year.
-If you look at these, you can see how
some of the best flags often use shapes and color
to complement the poem (instead of trying
to illustrate the poem, often a frustrating
experience for students).
- If you
use paints, try using sponges. It can make a
nice light pattern.
- If you
use watercolor on fabric, be sure to have some
dry flat surfaces for the flags to dry on.
Hanging them up right away may make them run.
Dream Flag Lines
Connecting
your dream flags to a line is the final step. It's
the least creative, but it creates the symbol of
connection that connects off of the flags we've
created. These lines can be displayed in your school
and beyond (more on that later), so it's a good idea
to make them sturdy. You can find full descriptions
of different methods on
Create section of our site, but here are a few
experience-based tips to guide you.
-
Whatever you do, try to keep the flags from
sliding when you attach them. It makes them hard
to transport and keep organized.
- Don't
use string or yarn. It's not strong enough and
tends to break. Also, most flags slide on
string.
- Be sure
to leave at least three feet at either end of
your line. It makes it easier to attach to
others and to add something if you need to.
- It's
good to create a label flag for the left end of
your line--a flags with your school, grades of
students, and possibly teacher names. This makes
your line identifiable if you display it outside
of school (or even in school!) This is a good
project for students who finish early.
- Keep
you lines to a maximum of about 30 feet. Longer
lines are very hard to manage. You can always
tie different ones together.
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