Tip of the Week.

Humidity helps when you are transfer dyeing, so if you are struggling to transfer colour from paper to cloth, try putting a steam iron about an inch or so away from the paper, and make some steam, taking care to protect your hands.  Don't stream the paper itself though, as you risk burning yourself from the blowback.

Tip Of The Week

Lutradur is useful for mixed media work; try it with paper and paint, as well as with needles and thread.

Tip Of The Week

Remember, when using fusible with spunbonded fabrics, always encase them in greaseproof paper or some other non stick surface.  Because of the way that the cloth is constructed, you will end up with a lot of fusible on your iron if you don't!

Tip Of The Week

If you are working with pastel colours in transfer dyes, it's worth marking the right side of the paper with a pencil.  It can be really quite difficult to tell which is the 'right' side when it has dried (and it does make a difference...).

Tip Of The Week : More Lutradur Lace

If you have tried out the Lutradur lace, and feel it's altogether too flimsy for your liking, try folding the Lutradur in half before you stitch it, or even add a third layer.  That will make it a bit more substantial, and, of course, there will be less distortion when you stitch into it.  Or you could try moving up a weight, from 30 to 70, for instance. Or both!  The piece shown here was made with two layers of Lutradur 30, and whilst the difference isn't really visible, I can certainly feel it.

Tip Of The Week

Think outside the box.  Just because it's a photograph printed on fabric, in this case, Lutradur XL, it doesn't mean that it has to be hung as an image.  This bag features a manipulated photograph of a section of rock, taken at Hunstanton, my favourite Norfolk beach.  'Sunny Hunny', or just Hunny, as it's known locally, has amazing cliffs (follow the link and scroll down to see an image). 

I have lined the bag with black Lutradur, which is really closer to grey; a pure black would have been too dark, but this is perfect.  I'm now considering how to finish the edges, and what sort of fastening to use.  I found this beautiful string of agates, which go beautifully with the colours of the bag.  Or perhaps a piece of driftwood  as a fastening...?  I haven't decided yet.  I am, however, very pleased with it at this stage.  Now to see what sort of fascinator might go with it... I haven't used lutradur in a fascinator yet, so watch this space!

Tip Of The Week

Run out of interfacing?  Use lutradur, with or without fusible.  Works beautifully.  I have been known to use Lutradur XL instead of batting; it has the additional advantage of being capable of running through the printer, and/or being able to accept transfer dyes, giving an extra edge to the piece.

Tip Of The Week

We temd to think of the spun bonded fabrics as 'art' fabrics; but they make wonderful materials for practical usage.  Evolon was made specifically to be made into clothing, for instance.  Why not try it out to make an applique for a tired tshirt?

Tip Of The Week.

When ironing transfer dyes onto spun bonded fabric, remember to cover your ironing board with something to pick up the dye that will inevitably pass through the holes.  I use Lutradur XL, but Evolon or polycotton would do as well.  I then cut the XL up into postcard sizes, and use it as the basis for postcards using lighter weight spunbonded fabrics. 

Tip Of The Week

Bring out the texture of Evolon by stitching extensively.  The more you handle it, the softer it gets.  In this piece, there is a tiny difference between the texture of the flowers and that of the background.  It's not major, but I know it's there.  I don't know if it's visible...what do you think?

ps there's more about this piece here

Tip Of The Week

Perfection is the best you can do on the day.  Don't beat yourself up about things that are less than perfect in your eyes.  The truth is, nobody will ever notice that wee detail that is annoying you.  Besides, there is always something you can do with a piece you're not satisfied with... so don't panic, and don't give up.

Tip Of The Week

I talked last week about painting papers in a batch.  If you do that, then make sure to keep the ones you have used separate from those you have not used.  The used papers can be recycled in collage and mixed media work, but there is nothing more frustrating than trying to get more colour out of an exhausted sheet.  Trust me.  I've done it...