Fiber Etch gel is designed to dissolve plant (cellulose) fibres such as cotton, viscose, linen and rayon. It is used for the “burn-out” process of devore and cutwork, while polyester, other synthetic fibres, wool and silk fibres remain intact. The fabric samples included black velvet, satin, cotton and batiste. These were each pinned onto a […]
Tag Archives: Project Ideas
06
Jun
Jun
Fabric artists today spend as much time taking colour out as putting it in. This gives their fabrics a richness that is only obtained by putting this extra thought into the finished article. White fabric can be dyed with a wealth of dyes such as Acid, Fibre Reactive Procion MX and Deka L dyes, natural […]
18
Apr
Apr
Method You can use the Makin’s extruder to create consistently sized and shaped polymer clay ‘logs’ for making canes to decorate beads etc (see how to use the extruder from our page Using an Extruder with Polymer Clay). For this cane, three colours of clay and two disc shapes were chosen. The red clay was […]
19
Feb
Feb
Felt beads or balls can be used for making jewellery, as embellishments for clothes and accessories, or for making simple toy. The trick to making a regularly shaped ball or bead is how you start it. I used a bowl of hot water with a good squirt of washing up liquid. Pull wisps of wool […]
05
Feb
Feb
Feltmaking takes many forms. It can be used to create wall hangings, clothing, soft furnishings and toys. Feltmakers can make perfectly shaped and consistently sized hand-made felted hats from our robust plastic formers. The hats above were felted by Susan Litton and Monica Traub. Susan used a dark red wool top which had a hand-dyed […]
27
Jan
Jan
Why wrap soap in felt? I hear you ask. Well, felting this beautiful wool and silk blended fibre around the soap makes it lather a little more than it ordinarily would and provides a lovely texture against the skin. The fibres felt together more tightly as the soap is used and by the time the […]
06
Jan
Jan
I was trying to recreate Sue Heaser’s perfectly worked spiral cane when I started to make these beads out of left over polymer clay. However, a lack of practice and patience resulted in a skew-whiff pink and white version which I decided to use regardless. The black and white ‘spiral’ cane was deliberately made to […]
16
Dec
Dec
The malleable polymer clay can be shaped or moulded using a number of methods. A simple way to create consistent shapes is to use a cutter and rolling strips (or CD cases as in the example below). The polymer clay is first conditioned by holding and working it. The heat from your hands makes the […]
28
Oct
Oct
We thought you may like to see how the gutta outliner butterfly turned out. The clear outliner, which acts as a barrier, was applied by following the lines traced with the autofade pen (now the Hemline Vanishing Fabric Marker). The moisture from the outliner makes the ink from the autofade pen start to disappear. It […]
05
Aug
Aug
The Jacquard Tie Dye Kit has been designed for children, and is especially fun while enjoying the Summer weather (this activity is guaranteed to pry them away from the Xbox!). Children over 8 (and adults too) will enjoy making their own tie-dyed t-shirt. The kit includes 3 colours of Procion MX dye in red, yellow […]