Wondering Wednesday :What Is Evolon?

Well, I asked on Saturday why Evolon was, strictly speaking, odd man out in this blog.  Heidi Rand wondered aloud whether it was spunbonded...and indeed, it isn't,. though it is a non woven cloth like both Lutradur and Zeelon.  It is a microfibre, but put together in a unique way; Freudenberg describe the process here.  Angela had a point, too, when she said that it isn't semi transparent...perhaps just as well, when you consider that it is used for clothing!  And Mary was right, too, to say that it is a mixture of polyester and nylon.  Lutradur is made of polyester, and Zeelon, of nylon; Evolon is a mix of both fibres, but more polyester than nylon. 

If you haven't used Evolon before, it has a wonderful texture, a bit like artificial suede, and comes in two types.  Evolon is fairly firm, will happily run through a printer and is great for all manner of purposes.  Evolon Soft is exactly that... softer and floppier than Evolon.  It is ideal for clothing, as it has great drape.  Of course, you can make Evolon softer by washing it repeatedly.  The Soft version has, in fact, been through an extensive industrial washing process, which makes it much softer than regular Evolon. Interestingly, handling Evolon produces the same result; if you hand stitch it , it softens beneath your hands; try it!

I've used this image on here before, but I make no apologies for showing it again.  If you click on it to enlarge it, you will be able to see the texture of the cloth.  The top was transfer dyed repeatedly to produce the rich colouration and effects that you see on it...but we'll talk about dyeing Evolon next week.

So...there you are.  That's what Evolon is.  Now, are you going to try some?

Magic Mooncat...

...is an occasional series of quiltlets.  Those of you who read my other blogs will know I share my life with four cats, so it seemed reasonable to pay homage to them (even though I don't have a white one...).  I love making these little quilts, and they are great fun.  This one is Autumn Evening.

Most people use spun bonded fabrics as the primary fabric in their work, myself included.  But I wanted the idea of a ghost cat, a magic mooncat, so he is made from Lutradur 70 and placed onto a quilt made from scraps of commercial fabric, and a border of my hand dyes.  You can see from both the images that you can see through the cat to the background quilt, which gives that mysterious feel.  Is he there, is he not?  What do you think?

What is there, of course, is cat hair.  The real stuff.  It, and they, get everywhere, and like nothing better than sitting on a quilt.  Especially when it has a cat on it already....

Polyester? Me? You're Kidding, RIght?

Blue Tree Dreaming : Quilted Lutradur.

...is what I would have said five or six years ago if you had told me that about eighty to ninety percent of my working time as a textile artist would be spent using polyester.  Now, though, that's exactly how I spend my time.  I work with Lutradur, Evolon and now Zeelon, using them for all kinds of things, including creating stitched photographs and multi layered quilts and embroideries.  With my friend and fellow artist Dijanne Cevaal, I wrote 'Lovely Lutradur'; Dijanne was the person who introduced me to spun bonded fabrics, for which I'm profoundly grateful.  A meeting with Mervyn from Spunart introduced me to Evolon; in fact, I stole his only sample... I'm surprised he still speaks to me!  And more recently, Mervyn has introduced me to Zeelon, another spun bonded fabric that has been introduced to textile artists.  It's an exciting time, with so many different cloths from man made fibres to play with!

 

Lost In Translation.  Dyed Lutradur over commercial fabric, heat distressed to show some elements in their original colours.

So why am I starting this blog?  Well, mainly because I want to create a resource for everyone who is using spun bonded fabrics in the art world, and explore the possibilities with you.  I know that every time I go to a quilt group meeting or a show, people tell me that they have got some lutradur, or evolon, or zeelon...or all three... but they have never used it because they don't know quite how to use it.  And that's despite all the books that have been written.  So... think of this blog as an interactive book.  I'll be showing you some step by step projects to make with your fabrics, as well as answering questions you might have about these wonderful fabrics. I'm also hoping to interview other artists who work with these fabrics, so that you can see how different people approach working with these amazing fabrics.  I'm aiming to post here every day, (barring accidents, illness and acts of God, of course), in a very structured way, starting...well, now, really! 

cushions made from Evolon

So...  the week will look roughly like this.

Monday is Inspiration Day.  I'll post something inspirational...a quote, a picture, a question.  I can't think of a better way to get the creative juices going at the start of the week.

Tuesday is for Trying Things Out.  This is the day when we explore actually using the fabrics.

Wednesday is Wondering Day.  Every Wednesday, I will answer a question that YOU have set.  You can email me here and ask me anything you like about these fabrics; how to dye them, how to use them... or ask for advice on a project you're working on.  

Thursday is another Trying Things Out day.

Friday is Photo Day!  Photos of past or ongoing work, mine, yours, anything that is interesting.  Again, you can email me if you would like to have your work featured here; the only proviso is that it must contain at least some of one or more of the spunbonded fabrics.  I will fully credit your work, will link to your blog or website, and will write an article based on the information you give me in a short and simple pre-publication questionnaire.

Saturday and Sunday are Fun Days!  Depending on what has been going on in the week, we could cover any or all these topics...think surprise!

I hope you'll enjoy visiting this blog...please do ask questions, make comments, give me feedback, so I can write stuff that meets YOUR needs.   And today would be a good day to ask questions for this and successive Wednesdays... what's the one thing you would love to know about spun bonded fabrics  (but were afraid to ask)?

Flying Circus.  An Evolon quilt, with both hand and machine stitching.