Poppies by Vivienne Challans (using Zeelon)
Vivienne decided to make these beautiful poppies in support of Remembrance Day. She chose Zeelon (a lovely lightweight sheer fabric) for the petals, which she coloured using heat transfer dye. Zeelon gives exceptionally good results when coloured using this method, as can be seen by the rich vibrant red of the poppies.By holding the petals with a pair of silicone tongs, Vivienne then gently softened the edges using the heat from a candle (being careful to be in a well ventilated room).After putting a little fold in the petals and arranging them into a natural shape, she then completed […]
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Handmade Zeelon Beads
This week (bearing in mind it’s Mother’s Day next Sunday) we’ve been making beads, by rolling up strips of transfer painted Zeelon Medium . . . We made a large selection of plain coloured straight beads (approximately 3cms wide), with a view to cutting them up into smaller beads to suit a particular design or colour way. To make bevelled beads, we cut 10 to 12 long thin triangles out of a sheet of A4 Zeelon Medium, which we had previously coloured using lemon and wine red transfer paint. We then applied some clear drying Tacky Glue all the way along the length and then, starting at […]
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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 […]
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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.
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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Christmas Gift Tags
It won’t be long until the 25th December . . . Here are just a few examples of how one of our (very) talented customers has used Zeelon to make a variety of Christmas Gift tags. With a clever combination of colouring, printing, snipping and shaping she has produced some beautiful designs. Aren’t they gorgeous!
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Remembrance . . . Lest we forget
Our poppy has been made from transfer painted Zeelon Light which, despite its delicate appearance, is a very strong fabric. The background is a piece of Lutradur 70gsm which has also been coloured and then over printed several times with the phrase ‘Lest we forget’. A simple tribute to the great sacrifices made by those who fought in the war.
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Poem by Robert Burns (printed on Zeelon Heavy)
To celebrate Burns Night on 25th January, we thought it would be a great idea to print one of his poems on to a piece of Zeelon Heavy. We hope you agree, it is a much more versatile fabric than simply using paper or card. It is also possible to print on the heavier weights of Lutradur (for instance 70gms), as an alternative to the Zeelon Heavy shown in our picture. On this occasion, we used a standard inkjet printer, but please be aware we would not recommend the use of a laser printer. if you have any questions, please do […]
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Zeelon Ghosts for Halloween
These strange ghostly apparitions were made using Zeelon Light, which was an ideal fabric for this type of project as it is so beautifully translucent and sheer. To make our ghosts, we soaked the Zeelon in a diluted solution of PVA glue and then draped strips of the fabric over empty bottles and left them to dry. (The glue allows the Zeelon to stiffen and keep its shape). We would like to wish all our customers and visitors to our website a very Happy Halloween! In the meantime, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Our full range of […]
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Zeelon – available in THREE different weights
Do you like textile art? Have you tried working with Zeelon? Zeelon is great for creating brilliant effects, because it has a soft, smooth finish and you can see through it. At first, you might think it looks like Lutradur, but because of its much finer fibres it has a more even appearance and the drape effect of a conventional cloth. Just like Lutradur, Zeelon will not tear or fray and is very strong. It can be painted, printed, dyed, sewn and also distressed. Its fine translucent properties make it great for layering or where light transmission is required. […]
