Our News
Lutradur Wall Hanging by Heather Tilley
This is the latest piece of work sent into us by the artist Heather Tilley. We have featured Heather’s work on four previous occasions and each time we feel in awe of her talent! She says “I decided to make a wall-hanging and started thinking about the flowers growing near the wall in my garden. I began by looking for scraps of fabric, such as green cotton or polycotton material, but only found small pieces, so it turned into a patchwork which needed backing.” Heather stitched the component parts on to Lutradur 100 to provide a strong, stable background and used Lutradur 70 to […]
Seahorses by Carolyn Sinclair
We were blown away by these seahorses sent into us by Carolyn Sinclair. The colouring is so true to life! We first met Carolyn several years ago when attending an exhibition and she made an immediate impression. As a recognised teacher of embroidery machines and embroidery software, Carolyn is one of the experts who writes for the Bernina Blog and both Bernina and Janome UK lend her their machines and software. Carolyn has a very contemporary approach to her work and says she loves to push the boundaries and explore new materials. These seahorses were used to demonstrate and […]
Lavender Sachets
If you have any lavender in your garden and would like to retain its lovely summer fragrance, why not make these delightful lavender sachets? We made these little bags using Zeelon Light which, although very delicate in appearance, is really strong. We also liked the fact that Zeelon is semi-transparent, allowing the lavender inside to be seen (as shown on the photograph above). Zeelon is only available in white, yet colours beautifully with transfer paints, which we used to create the ‘dotty’ designs and vivid background colours of violet, scarlet, yellow and lime. Also, due to our simple design […]
Scissor Sleeve
Having seen scissor sleeves for sale in haberdasheries and at craft fairs, we thought we would have a go at making our own using Evolon. This is one of those projects where it is much easier to show photos of how an item was made, rather than try to explain! Using our largest pair of scissors as a guide, we created a template and, after experimenting by making a few adjustments to the angles, we were eventually able to fold the card so that the top edges of both pockets were parallel. When we were happy with our […]
Night Lights by Kate Findlay
Charming night lights created by Kate Findlay This is the first time we have featured any of Kate’s work on our website, but hopefully not the last! Kate is a full-time artist/maker in textiles, who runs workshops and gives talks to textile groups. She produces a wide variety of work, and has previously made a great number of art quilts based on the Large Hadron Collider, but nowadays makes collaged textile pictures using hand dyed fabrics, taking her inspiration from the British countryside. To see the full range of Kate’s fabulous art, why not visit her website www.artsfindlay.co.uk . […]
Happy Easter!
Our local nursery is celebrating this Easter with a Best Bonnet Competition, so we chose a simple top hat design for our little chap . . . We started by measuring our model’s head (52cms) and then cut two pieces of Lutradur XL – a rectangle for the top section (18cms x 59cms) long enough to provide a good overlap. Next we cut an oval shape for the brim and checked this for size on our model. Using transfer paint, we lightly coloured the Lutradur to give […]
Mothers Day Slippers
It’s time for Mum to put her feet up with some lovely new slippers! We used Lutradur XL for the soles as it is our strongest and heaviest grade of Lutradur. We then chose Evolon for the lining and upper sections because it is soft to the touch and colours beautifully. Both materials are easy to cut, machine stitch and have the added advantage that they do not fray! 1. Pattern Making/Cutting Out First make a cardboard pattern for each slipper by drawing around either a shoe or slipper. Using Lutradur XL, cut out 4 base shapes (2 per […]
Mothers’ Day Cards
Don’t forget Mothering Sunday is 31st March . . . So why not make a lovely personalised card to give your Mum and show her how creative you can be! Lutradur is ideal for card making as it can be painted, stitched, dyed and also printed. Our cards have been decorated with heart shapes cut out of Lutradur 70 and Lutradur 100. Pink acrylic paint was used to colour the Lutradur 70, while all the words and messages have been printed on to Lutradur 100 (which is slightly thicker) using an ink jet printer. Here’s how to make the card pictured below […]
Winter Hedge by Sian Kibblewhite
Sian has recently sent us these images of some of her most recent work, where she has used Lutradur for the uppermost layer. The close up picture above shows just how beautifully Sian has managed to capture frost glistening in the moonlight. In her own words, Sian describes how she has achieved these impressive results – “The base fabric has been space dyed, then further embellished with a Lutradur moon and further layered with silk screened cow parsley images using xpandaprint 3D medium on medium weight Lutradur. The Lutradur whilst heated has created a lacey effect and the xpandaprint a […]
Book Covers by Vivienne Challans
Here’s an idea to personalise your 2019 diary or protect a favourite book . . . They say you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, but these covers are so delightful, they can turn even an ordinary notebook into something rather special. Bright, cheerful, fun to make and extremely tactile, each of them is a work of art. Vivienne is a member of the Embroiderers Guild and this is her first contribution to our website, but hopefully not the last! She has used Lutradur 100gsm and 130gsm to create these colourful covers and, in her own words, describes how she made them – “I used Heat Transfer Paints for the […]