Welcome to Wondering On Wednesday! Heidi Rand has very kindly asked the first question. She already prints on lutradur, but was wondering about inkjet printing on Evolon and Zeelon. Well, I can't comment on the results on Zeelon, as I haven't tried it yet! So, I'm going to take her question and twist it slightly. Which do I prefer printing on, Lutradur or Evolon? For me, that's a no brainer at one level. I love Evolon's texture, and its softness means that it has more texture when you stitch into it, and that's important for me. So, at a purely emotional level, Evolon gets my vote. However, the technical answer is one that I'll doubtless keep coming back to over the life of this blog: 'It Depends...' In this case, it depends what you want to use it for.
Both Lutradur and Evolon will happily go through the printer, though, the lighter weights, whilst giving a lovely effect, are somewhat wasteful of ink. The transparency that Lutradur is famous for is achieved through lots of little holes, which ink travels through, and on to the backing or, if you're working without backing, onto the printer itself...not a good look...
As this is my first ever question, I didn't have the luxury of preparation time, so I have no lutradur samples to show you, though I did do a chapter on printing on lutradur in Lovely Lutradur. So the images are of a piece of printed Evolon which I've recently finished as a wall quilt. The image is of a lily, and has been manipulated in Paint Shop Pro to strenghten the colours. I then coated the fabric with a medium, to stop the colour soaking into the cloth and being lost, and then printed and stitched. Remember to click on the images to see them up close.
I hope you enjoy and are inspired by these images; the effect of printing on cloth is amazing, I think... I'm working towards an exhibition in July, called 'Blossomings', which will feature these flowers. This one is roughly 44cm square. I'll doubtless be talking about the preparation for Blossomings in the main blog.
6 comments:
The print on the Evolon looks wonderful. I have printed on Zeelon and it is very easy and effective. I just sent it straight through attached to some printer paper.
I don't know what Zeelon is and where to get. I'm from Holland.
Ineke, you can get Zeelon from http://www.spunart.co.uk. Tell them you learned about it through this blog . Zeelon is another spun bonded fabric, this time a nylon. It's not unlike Lutradur, but has different possibilities for dyeing. We'll be playing with some in the next week or so.
Maggi, Thanks for sharing your experience...that's just the kind of helpful conversation I'm hoping to foster on here. Any chance of a photo?
Marion, I would be happy to send you a photo and details of the piece but I can't find your email address anywhere.
Marion, I love your print on Evolon! Thanks so much for answering my question - I'm really excited to try it out now with the bit I've got. It's hard to find in the US, so I have to parcel out what I have until it's more readily available.
Post a Comment