George Weil Blog & FAQs
Welcome to the George Weil Blog FAQs which includes information about the art and craft products sold on this website. There are project ideas, photographs of items created by our customers, product reviews, and step-by-step instructions. See also our USEFUL LINKS page which includes a listing of websites offering information about the products sold on our website, training resources and Guilds.
If there is anything you would like to see included here or if you would like to contribute an item, please email graphics@georgeweil.com
Craft Paints for Fabric, Paper and other Surfaces
We offer a range of water based acrylic paints specifically formulated for use on both natural and synthetic fabrics. Most of them can also be used to paint paper and card and some, such as Jacquard Lumiere are effective on...
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Printed Silk Organza Greetings Card
These paper-backed Organza fabric sheets can be used for printing on inkjet printers and copiers. They can be used to build up layers of printed text and photographs giving interest and depth in cardmaking, scrapbooking, montage, patchwork and 3d embroidery...
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Needle Felted Animals by Coralie and Phil Miles
We love these needle felted animals created by Coralie and Phil Miles. This is their first attempt and we can’t wait to see how their skills progress! Coralie used to work here with us before she retired. She is a...
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Natural Dyes – Mineral, Substantive or Adjective
What are Natural Dyes? Natural dyes are derived from naturally occurring sources such as plants, minerals and invertebrates and used to add colour to textiles and paper. The dyes tend to fall into one of three types, mineral, substantive or...
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Handmade Mulberry Paper
The Papershed handmade Mulberry paper is made from the bast (the long strong fibres from the inner bark) of the Mulberry tree. The fibres (also known as Kozo) are stripped and beaten to separate out the longer, tougher fibres for...
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Luxury Scarf from Mohair Loop Yarn
This Mohair Loop Yarn just has to be seen and felt! It is luxuriously soft and knits into a sumptuous scarf – ideal for Christmas presents. The scarf was knitted using the basic knit stitch on size 10mm Surina wooden...
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How to make a Spiral Patterned Polymer Clay Cane
with Sue Heaser A spiral cane is one of the easiest types of cane to make out of polymer clay. The spiral cane slices can be applied to all kinds of projects for a stylish and modern look. These beads...
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Polymer Clay Buttons
with Sue Heaser The working possibilities of polymer clay are endless. By blending fully pigmented colours with a translucent colour it can be made to emulate semi-precious stones or it can be inlaid with coloured resin to create faux enamel...
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How to Make Buttons out of Polymer Clay
with Sue Heaser Polymer Clay is a marvellous material for making your own buttons. The huge range of mixable colours means that you can create buttons to match any fabric, fibre or hand knit. Polymer clay buttons are machine washable...
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Transferring Images using Liquid Polymer Clay
Translucent Liquid Sculpey is a bakeable liquid polymer medium. That means that it shares many of the same properties as solid polymer clay but has a number of characteristics that offer unique and unexpected possibilities. Find out more about Translucent...
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Knitting from a Wool Top
The Fibrecrafts Merino wool tops have a long fibre length which means that it can be knitted or crocheted without being spun, to create a thick, dense knitted fabric ideal for making Afghan squares, scarves and hats. If you would...
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Locker Hooking
Locker hooking is a fairly simple craft with very satisfying results. Locker hooked fabric can be used to make rugs, mats, bags and wall hangings. You can also use the technique to embellish open weave hats, loose knit sweaters and...
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Experimental Dyeing with Lichens
These notes appear originally on the Yahoo Group ‘Natural Dyes’ and have been reproduced with the kind permission of the author, Dick Huset. “Three years ago after a trip up to the arctic where the big lichen ‘ears’ have been...
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Knitting from a Mawata Cap
It is possible to knit from any continuous length, whether it be deliciously soft wool yarn or a ball of common household string. Knitting directly from the silk Mawata Cap, which we sell to you as a fibre, can work...
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Beginning Inkle Weaving
An inkle loom is ideal for learning about the technique of weaving. You can weave long strips of fabric which can be used as straps, belts, and decorative edgings. Our photographs are of the Schacht Inkle Loom. Understanding Basic Weaving...
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Indigo Dye Vat using Yeast & Sugar
These alternative indigo dye recipes are reproduced with the kind permission of Alison Daykin at Alison Yule Textiles. Find out more about indigo and how to set up a traditional indigo dye vat. Indigo Dye Vat using Yeast and Sugar...
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Dyeing with Indigo – including Indigo Dye Recipe
Here we include an Indigo Dye Recipe and a little about the history of this ancient dye. Indigo is probably the most widely used dyestuff of all time – indeed denim jean material is still coloured using indigo dye as...
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Freeform Knitting & Crochet
Delicious oddments of yarns, the simple tool of a crochet hook and a piece of rug canvas can pave the way to making an original designer hand bag. This bag, made by Coralie Miles, shows the exciting colours and textures...
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Using Foil or Metal Leaf on Polymer Clay
Using foil or metal leaf to decorate polymer clay can be very effective. They technique is surprisingly simple yet very effective. Sue Heaser’s necklace was made by rolling out a piece of black polymer clay and laying a sheet of...
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Spinning Wheel, Flyers, Bobbins and Whorls
There is a strong relationship between the fittings on the spinning wheel and the type of yarn easily produced. This explains why many spinners have more than one wheel. The working unit on all modern spinning wheels is the combination...
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