Wednesday 13 December 2017

Snow Business 2

Well, it just goes to show that it doesn't pay to cut corners!

These are the results of the fabric I painted with snow and Dye na Flow - not great, but not a complete disaster either. The colours were washed out in most of the samples so I didn't bother to take pictures. The best results were using the silk noil (the darker sample) and the Egyptian cotton. I'll use these as a background, probably printing over them.

Next time it snows I'll get the soda, salt and procion dyes out!

Denise

Sunday 10 December 2017

There's no business like snow business!

It is snowing here at Craft Arena, so as there are not many people around, I'm taking the opportunity to do some snow dyeing. Well, actually, I'm using Dye na Flow paint instead of Procion Dye as an experiment. I've used Procion in the past and it worked really well, but I really couldn't be bothered to get out the soda ash and salt, so we'll see if this short cut works.

Fabric washed and ready for the snow

First I washed the fabric (Egyptian cotton and, poplin) in synthrapol to get rid of any finish, then after I'd emptied it away, decided to add muslin and silk noil.The noil had previously been washed, but the muslin hadn't. I must admit, I don't usually wash fabric before dyeing, so it will be interesting to see if there are any differences.

I sent Ray out to collect some snow. (Twice actually, as I didn't have quite enough!)

Let it snow!

Fabric covered with snow, ready for the dye


I need some brown fabric for a project I'm working on, so decided to try two different batches. The first is with Brown and Ecru.....

Brown and Ecru Dye na Flow

...and the second batch is Burnt Umber and Ochre.

Burnt Umber and Ochre

I poured the darker colours first, and the lighter colours in the gaps. Now all I need to do is wait for it all to melt and find out if it has worked. The fabric will get a good soak as I'm not back in the studio until Tuesday!

Denise

Friday 4 December 2015

Two hours with Transfer Paints - Lisa & Denise


For this session we decided to try out some transfer paints and look at using them with a conventional household iron and a hot press. You can buy a hot press for around £100. Health and safety first, this machine get extremely hot follow the manufacturers instructions carefully. use baking parchment with both methods to stop accidental melting of fabrics.
 
 
This was a joint work together session, I used the iron and Denise used the hot press, well until I pushed her to one side! We used synthetic velvet to start. Denise had a stack of pre painted papers to use. The top was the iron method and the bottom the hot press. The iron took a long time and quite a bit of pressure, whereas the press took 20 seconds.

 
Synthetic voile, not so good.

 
 
We also tried some cheap printed paper bags and again the press was much clearer (left pic, bottom) You can get a nice sharp image from the paper bag and press (right pic)


We tried a variety of fabrics, cotton, pelmet Vilene etc. The iron method worked best with pelmet Vilene.


As the hot press has a smaller plate than a commercial one we had a look at printing a larger piece of fabric. We decided to jus print, move paper along and so on.


 
Because the transfer paint fades with each use there is quite a marked difference, although we thought we would just work the change into a stitched, layered background ourselves, but you could always use a fresh painted paper for each section.

 
 
You can end up with some lovely background colour with both methods in a fairly short time.




Denise used a couple of pieces of velvet cut from an old dress and heated it over a wooden stamp. This worked well with a larger stamp.



Two hours with Paint, Stencils and Stamps - Lisa

So we decided to have a messy couple of hours. Nothing really difficult just some background fabrics. We did use acrylic paint, fabric paint and well anything to hand really. We started fairly organised and tidy - I should point out here that Denise has lots of wooden stamps, and I mean lots!

 
I mainly use a sponge dabbing technique for a background layer of colour.
  
 
Then some stencils, just bought ones that we had. Round end brush and not too much paint for best effect.
 
 
 

I added a variety of stamps and stencils and actually ended up with a nice array of fabrics. 
 
                     

We got messier and more spread out as the time went by!


We are planning a three day workshop for next year at Craft Arena and this will be the starting point. Sneek peek -
 
 

Tuesday 20 October 2015

Two hours with Fusibles and Transfer Foil - Denise

Our latest playtime saw us trying out different ways of applying transfer foil. We used Vilene Bondaweb and Hot Spots, MistyFuse, and Kim Thittachai's KK Glue. As usual, most of the items we use are sold at Craft Arena, although I must admit my stocks of some are a bit low at present! We did get carried away with our play, and must remember to take more pictures next time!




First of all, we tore up painted Bondaweb which we applied to white fabric - I just love the effect this gives, use diluted paint, not too thick).




We then put transfer foil on top, coloured side up. Use a medium setting to release the foil; too hot an iron will melt the plastic carrier. Don't use your best iron, I bought a cheap one from my local supermarket to use in mixed media work. I first used red foil, which I stroked with the tip of the iron, then I used aqua foil which had already been used in another project. You can see the dots left behind which were transferred to this sample - I don't throw away any foil until it has all been used!



This is the sample with the transfer foil added. I'm not sure you will be able to see the full extend of the sparkle, but believe me, it's there!

I decided to do a bit more to this the following day, and you can see the results a little later.



In this sample, I have taken the red foil I used previously, and applied it to black polycotton with MistyFuse - a fusible web without paper backing. This is a great medium, as you get a spidery, webby effect. If you use too hot an iron, you do tend to get a solid mess, but just rub it, and the excess foil will flake away from the areas without glue. I then used purple foil which adhered to the gaps in red foil.



Time now to play with Hot Spots. This is in the form of dots on a paper-backed glue which is available in two sizes on A4 sheets and inch-wide strips. In this sample I have cut wavy lines through a piece of the strip and applied it to black polycotton, then applied purple foil. You do need the iron a little hotter for this than bondaweb. This is great for specific shapes you would like to add to your projects. The Hot Spot paper can be put through a cutting machine, cut with scissors or punched out. Do be careful not to cut it over your work though, as some of the dots do tend to fall off the paper and onto your work, and you won't realise until you have applied the foil. Once applied, it is washable, so it's great for adding to clothing.



We tried using different tools for heating the foil. I'd not tried using a soldering iron before, and found out why! It heats up too much and melts the foil unless you are very careful! Not a success.


This sample was foiled with a Clover mini-iron on painted Bondaweb. 



These irons are intended for quilters to use to apply binding, and to iron small areas of fabric to get a good crease, but mine has never been used for that and couldn't be now! These irons are quite expensive, but I can get a cheaper alternative. If anyone is interest, let me know via the website.



The following day I decided to knock back the shine a bit by laying over some light purple chiffon I had in my stash. I then free-machined over the top...


... and then zapped it with a heat gun. As the fabric was synthetic, it did buckle a bit, adding to the texture of the sample.


More play soon!

Denise

Monday 19 October 2015

Two hours with Fusibles and Transfer Foil - Lisa

So this week we played with fusibles and transfer foil, I have only used transfer foil once before so I tapped into Denises' greater knowledge. Fortunately she has a big box of painted bondaweb and we used white cotton for base fabric. Work on an ironing board and use the stand of your soldering iron or an upturned flower pot as the tip gets very hot.


 
We torn bits and layered it on, ironing between two sheets of baking parchments.


 
We used the tip of the iron and the side to apply the transfer foil - colour side up!


 
You can add more or less, different colours etc.

 
I tried some misty fuse which gave a nice effect. if the transfer foil looks a little thick, give it a good rub together and it falls off where it hasn't stuck.
 
 
You can then apply a second layer/colour which will pick up the leftover glue.

 
I tried some Vilene hotspots, small and large, which give a different effect again. this comes as A4 sheets and strips.
 

I then tried using the soldering iron to apply the transfer foil onto bondaweb. This was not very successful, although maybe with some further experimenting it would be better. Denise used her Clover quilting mini iron - I don't think she uses it for quilting - she will post about that.

I'm probably going to do some stitching on these samples, either hand or machine, I'll post pictures later.