Our News
The Year of the Rat
This Saturday marks the start of the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Rat, and to celebrate the occasion we decided to make a few little rodents of our own! In Chinese culture, the Rat is the first of twelve mythical animals, which achieved its prime position by outwitting the rest of the animals. Seen as a sign of wealth and surplus, people born in this year are thought to be quick thinkers and possess characteristics such as creativity, intelligence, honesty, ambition and generosity. Recent years of the Rat are: 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020. To make […]
Karl Marius Sveen – Norwegian Designer/Artist
Karl Marius Sveen is an award winning Interior Architect and Furniture Designer, who studied at the National College of Art & Design in Bergen, Norway. He draws inspiration from the Scandinavian way of thinking and living, by creating products and furniture which are simple in design, yet also aesthetic and functional. Given his background, we were very excited when he ordered a roll of Evolon and were absolutely delighted when he sent us the following images of his work . . . Big, bold, bright and colourful – they are a vibrant and stunning collection. In Karl’s own words he explains his technique – […]
Snowman Family (in Evolon)
These little snowmen have been made from rectangular pieces of Evolon (20cms wide), which have been curled up into cylindrical shapes and stapled in position. They range in height from 6cms, 9cms to 12cms and are very quick and easy to make. Simply cut a small hole in the position of the nose (approximately 6mm in diameter) and, using a black biro, draw on some eyes and a friendly smile. Then colour a semicircle of Evolon (6cms in diameter) with acrylic paint, before rolling into a cone shape to form a carrot nose. Push the nose through the hole until it fits snugly and stays in place and then decorate your snowman to […]
‘A Christmas Carol’ by Vivienne Challans
Vivienne was inspired to make this piece based on the last few words that Scrooge exclaims in Charles Dickens’ famous tale, A Christmas Carol. The Chairman of the Derbyshire Branch of the Embroiderers’ Guild issued the challenge ‘To use A Christmas Carol as a source of inspiration.’ – the results to be exhibited at the Derby Theatre over the festive period. In her own words, Vivienne says – “I created this piece using heat transferred dyed Lutradur 100gsm for the background. The words were also printed on heat transferred Lutradur using a printing set and Versacolour printing ink. The figures were based on sketches and formed using machine embroidery on […]
Machine cut mat by Carolyn Sinclair
Carolyn Sinclair is a textile artist/designer and an expert in computer embroidery and software. She recently sent us these photographs of an ingenius new development for embroidery machines with special needles, which can cut; thereby turning an embroidery machine into a creative cutting tool!Carolyn tells us Bernina (who were the first to introduce this technique), actually developed a tool called the ‘cutwork tool’ with 4 different positions which replaces the normal sewing needle. Bernina patented their invention, so other manufactures have produced 4 needles which do a similar job. In her own words, Carolyn describes the process – “I took a piece of Lutradur […]
‘Roots’ by Karen Lane
This beautiful piece of work by Karen Lane, seems to embody all the colours, textures and essence of autumn, so is very appropriate for this time of year. It is a great example of how Lutradur can be adapted to represent all the various textures from sturdy tree bark through to delicate leaves. Karen is a Feltmaker and Textile Artist and we are fortunate to have featured her work several times in the past. Each piece always meets with a great deal of appreciation for the life-like accuracy of her work and her attention to detail. In Karen’s own words she describes how it […]
Shadow Puppet Theatre for Halloween
We had a lot of fun putting this Halloween scene together and think it is possibly the first project where we have used all three of our materials, i.e. Lutradur, Evolon and Zeelon. Evolon provided the perfect screen, which we stapled as taut as possible to the sides of a large sturdy box. The clouds of cobwebs around the house and pumpkins were formed by teasing apart the fibres of some Zeelon Light. Everything else was made with Lutradur. Here’s a brief description of each item – Haunted House and Spooky Tree Both made from two layers of Lutradur XL (the […]
Dragonflies by Alison D’Oyley
We were delighted to receive these beautiful images of dragonflies, created by Alison D’Oyley, which are both silkscreen prints, but on different materials. ‘Dragonfly II’ is a silkscreen print on Lutradur with hand stitch, while ‘Dragonfly III’ is a silkscreen print with hand stitch on Zeelon. Lutradur has more ‘open’, random fibres, whereas the Zeelon has a much smoother, uniform appearance. We think its interesting to compare the two, but difficult to decide which we prefer! Artist: Alison D’Oyley holds the copyright for all of her designs.
Printed Images on Lutradur with Lace Overlay by Heather Tilley
These gorgeous pictures were created by Heather Tilley using sheets of lace sewn on to Lutradur and then passed through an ink jet printer. By covering the Lutradur with lace, the images appear ‘softened’ and where Heather has chosen lace containing a shiny thread, the pictures also have an iridescent quality. Heather says – “The images are from drawings and from photographs which I’ve photoshopped etc, and I’ve adjusted them mainly by using smaller sections of the originals.” “I start by cutting a piece of net/lace slightly larger than an A4 piece of Lutradur, to provide a 1cm overlap all the way round and then […]
How to colour Lutradur, Evolon (or Zeelon) using Transfer Paints
You can colour Lutradur, Evolon or Zeelon using transfer paints and a hot iron. Our short video demonstrates how easy it is to create vibrant colours. This method of painting is a great technique for transferring single colours, designs or images from paper on to any of our fabrics. Paint a piece of paper with transfer paint directly from the pot. (Use one colour per sheet, as colours can be blended at the ironing stage). Allow the paint to dry thoroughly and don’t worry if the paper curls, as it will unfurl when ironed. Place the paper, paint […]
‘Bloom’ by Alison D’Oyley
This lovely image of a flower (which looks just like the clematis that rambles over my neighbour’s fence) was sent into us by artist/printmaker Alison D’Oyley. It comprises of hand painted Lutradur, which Alison has stitched on to cotton, which she has also painted by hand. You can see more of Alison’s art by visiting her website www.alisondoyley.co.uk or, if you are in the Norfolk area, why not pop along to see her work at the Local Norfolk Craft Exhibition, Dragonfly Gallery, Watton, which is on until 3rd September 2019. (Please remember to check opening times beforehand). Artist: Alison D’Oyley holds the copyright for all of […]
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 […]