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ExTex 2 - Weekend 6 - Dyeing and transfer printing

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Transfer printed polyester satin. The weekend saw me teaching the 6th weekend of Experimental Textiles at The Old Needleworks in Redditch. The weekend was a colour fest. On the Saturday we used procion dyes to colour natural fabrics and on Sunday we used disperse dyes (transfer paints) to colour synthetic fabric. The whole point of the course is to develop the students confidence in themselves and all the basic skills so they can work independently.  As a textile artist it is very important to know how to colour your own fabrics, be they natural or synthetic. This is one very important way to help your work look different to everyone elses. The group already know how to create original designs and make printing blocks of their own designs. The girls dying natural fabrics in plastic bags.      Bags of colourful opportunity.  I will be able to show you what the girls produced from their fabrics after the next session in mid November. The fabrics needed

The Knitting and Stitching Show - Alexandra Palace - October 10th - 13th

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 The lovely Laura Strutt polishing off 2 puddings - no not really - we shared.  I have found a fellow dessert lover!!! Whoopppee! The Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace was amazing, very busy indeed. I have a new job - promoting Vilene products at various shows around the country. As you can imagine, it is a great hardship - not!!! I have been working with these fabulous products for many years as many of you will know. Laura Strutt and I will be doing all the Twisted Thread shows for the next few years and one or two others .Laura is a very clever girl and is into all manner of crafts as well as working on magazines and is the author of the Haynes Sewing Manual. We get on SOOOOO well together. Whilst the shows are hard work - great fun can also be had.  Laura showing how to use the Quickscreen Triangle by Vilene. The whole point of us having a stand at the shows is to help you all identify which Vilene products you may need for your area of crafting, emb

Hot, New Jewelled Surfaces with the Context group - 5th October.

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    Vilene Spunbond CS500 and polyester organza decorated with painted Bondaweb then zapped with a heat gun and ripped apart. Hot, New Jewelled Surfaces was the workshop and it was a local group for a change - Context. A great group of ladies - we had 14 for the workshop. The main idea of the workshop is to teach the safe use of heat tools. Irons, heat guns and soldering irons while having a thoroughly good time  The group getting down to work with the painted Bondaweb.     Busy girls and a very busy table . . .      Oh dear - there were some absolutely delicious cakes.MMmmmmm!! We were working with painted Bondaweb and Vilene Spunbond/Lutradur and of course all manner of sparkles. The group really enjoyed cutting out shapes with a soldering iron. This process is basically cutting shapes for bonded applique. In this case, as we are using synthetic fabrics, once the Bondaweb has been applied to the back of the fabric (leaving the backing paper on). shapes can v

. . whilst lurking in the West Country!

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Layered Vilene Spunbond applique cut with a soldering iron and ironed onto Pelmet Vilene light (black). This time last week I was being mobbed at the Exeter show - my goodness it was busy - at times it was like being at the NEC. It was great to see many of the ladies I had taught on my 'tour' in June in Devon and Cornwall. I had very little time to play on the stand but I did manage to get these samples done ready for Ally Pally next week. I love working with synthetics and a soldering iron - I love the 'oozzy' melting feeling you get as you cut. I was also visited by this lady who I met when I was teaching in Spain at the Castanea Studios. castanea-craft-courses.com She was doing a beading course with Jane Sadgrove who was teaching in the other studio. I have of course completely forgotten her name - but we all had such good fun at the studios.This lovely lady co-ordinated beautifully with the purple stands and carpet at the show. She always dyes