And the Winners Are.......

There was a lot of wet fabric, Gelatos, Derwent Inktense pencils, and running the heat gun and iron going on at my house this week and the results were interesting, if not exactly what I expected. Now, I can't emphasize this enough, but you absolutely have to wash the sizing out of Aida (or stuff out of any other fabric you are using), because it definitely affects the colorfastness. Also, you have to heat set with an iron. I tried it with a heat gun and the results were poor, but if you iron it in, the color stays on.


From upper left, the Gelatos Iridescent; to the
right is the metallic Gelato and the bottom is
the Derwent Inktense Pencil. The dark spots look
funny in the photo but they actually are just where
the green is a little bit darker because of the wrinkles
in the fabric when I applied the color pencil. It
actually is very pretty and not stained looking. :o)

First off, let's talk about the Gelatos. They are a definite winner in the color fastness test. I did an iridescent and a metallic Gelato first and they both heat set beautifully without any bleeding of the color. The iridescence was still beautiful after the heat and the sheen was still on the metallic afterward as well. I soaked them down well with water after drying and got wonderful results.
Next up are the Derwent Inktense Watercolor Pencils. These did very well too, the same as the Gelatos, no bleeding after being heat set with an iron.

What I was keeping my fingers crossed for was the Twinkling H2O's. I was pretty disappointed. I tried everything. Heat gun, iron, and even used Liquitex Fabric Medium, and it bleeds like crazy when rewet no matter what. Not only that, but the beautiful sparkle mostly disappeared with the heat setting. I'm still going to play with these a bit more in hopes of finding a solution to the bleeding, but for now I can't recommend them for any permanence or performance on fabric. Ugh! I had such high hopes too!

The Gelatos maintained a pretty soft hand, although the Derwent Inktense pencil sample had a somewhat stiffer hand. It wasn't anything that couldn't be worked with, just know that there is a difference in the two hands and that may or may not be important to you. In the past, I actually had to scrap a whole project because the paint made the fabric so hard it would break my needles. Truly! And it was made for fabric! So I know that the softness of the paint's hand is important.

So here is something to note as well. I used the Tattered Angels on top of the Derwent Inktense pencils and it seemed to counteract the colorfastness. This is after heat setting both. The blue faded from the color loss and I had both ingredients running off all over the place. If you want to combine different media, be absolutely sure to test it on a piece of scrap to see how they work together first. Maybe some are meant to be used solely alone and you need to know that for yourself before you proceed.

I heat set my samples by placing them between two sheets of parchment paper and then pressing with a medium to high heat. I would flip them over several times, heating the front and back. I believe the pencils may take a little bit longer to heat set but I'm sure that will vary with different irons and heat settings. You will have to experiment with yours to see what works best. Next week I am going to play with the Jacquard Lumiere's and Shiva Paintsticks to figure out their colorfastness, so be sure to stay tuned.

MORE SILK FIBERS


Beautiful, beautiful silk fibers that come in a huge variety of colors
and shades. Wonderful to work with too!

Some of the Access Commodities Soie d'Alger I own. I noticed
a few of the Kreinik silks snuck in there as well! LOL!

Au Ver a Soie d'Alger from Access Commodities is a 7 ply stranded spun silk that is easily divided. What is so very special about this particular product is that it comes in 623 colors in 107 shade families. If they don't have the color, you don't need it! I mean really, could your color choices be more than that? Yes, because they introduce new colors from time to time. They also retire colors too, so if you find a particular color you adore, get it when you can and how much you can because you never know when it might go away and something else take its place. Also, order in the same dye lot just in case too. It comes in 5 meter pull-skeins, 45 meter hanks, 100 gram hanks and 200 gram cones (about 780 meters). This stuff has been made in France by the same company since the late 1800's.

This is truly an absolutely gorgeous silk that is soft, smooth, and lustrous. For special projects this is a go to for me, where I need to invest time in more delicate stitching and with a little bit pricier product. I know I would absolutely have no problem finding the correct color I need in this selection. Now once again be aware that it is recommended by the company that it be dry cleaned, so make sure any other fibers you use can be dry cleaned as well.

Here is a link to Access Commodities:
 http://www.accesscommodities.com/

Next time we will talk about my all time favorite silk fiber.

Until then here is your thought nugget:

"If you are willing to do something that might not work, you're closer to being an artist."
~Seth Godin

Working with Pencils and Gelatos

So here is the breakdown of working with the pencils and the Gelatos for coloring your working fabric. THEY ARE FABULOUS! If you want to create a dyed look only with more control, then this is the option for you too. First the Derwent Inktense pencils. The tools will be the same for both products.

Water Cup

Spray Bottle

Heat Gun

 Be sure to have a small sample piece of material to work on first so you can experiment before tackling your actual project.

Practice with the pencil for the way you want the outcome.

Blend into the fabric with a brush. I use Martha
Stewart Craft Brushes which are sturdy for fabric work.

Add additional colors the same way and blend.

A little more interest with splatter from Twinkling H2Os.

 Of course everyone will customize doing this the way that is best for them, but this is how I do it:
1. Saturate the fabric with water (can soak it with the spray bottle)
2. Using the side of the pencil, just run it over the fabric where you want color. Blend it in with a wet paintbrush. Do the same with other colors you want to add.
3. Heat set with a heat gun in between applications to get an idea what it looks like dry. Rewet with spray bottle to add color or change design. Keep a white and black or dark grey pencil handy to add highlights or shade. Continue the process until you are happy with the appearance.
4. To get the spatter I tapped a fan brush on my finger that I used Twinkling H2O's on.

Gelatos
For the Gelatos I essentially did the same thing and used the translucents right out of the tube. The Gelato colors do not move around as readily so where you put them is basically where they will stay. However, what I did was put some on my finger too and rubbed it on the fabric to add color. You could use a brush too.

I wanted to make a pastel version to show what those colors would look like, and I think they came out awesome!



I first spread the Gelato on the silicone sheet,
wet it down, and then used a brush to apply it
to the fabric.

The translucents are really translucent. I knew
I would have to layer more to produce the color
I wanted.

Just added it to fabric straight from the stick.
Fun, Fun, Fun!

I wanted to also add this beautiful Translucent
minty green color. Again, straight from the tube.

After blending in with a brush the results were perfect!

The pencils on the left and the Gelatos on the right.
Both were easy to work with and gave great results.
Though similar but different, the effects vary with
each medium. I loved working with both and will
definitely use them in my work!

Now I am going to heat set them with an iron and see how colorfast they are which is going to be the final step. I mean, who wants to stitch something up only to realize they can't wash it if it is soiled because the colors will be all over the place. Before it is heat set, it would be nice if you could wash the color out if you are just not happy with the results and start over. Kind of like gessoing over paint to start over on a canvas. That's a money saver as well as a time saver. You don't have to mix colors either, if you need a blue background just use a blue pencil. It's exciting to know that you are working on your own Mona Lisa or Picasso and are making the decisions for your creations beautiful outcome.

One thing to add and I didn't even think about this at the time I was working on it, is that the samples I used had sizing in the fabric. When I was brushing on the fabric, the sizing was liquefying and had to affect the outcome to some extent. How much I can't say for sure, but it may have made it lighter and could alter the color fastness as well.

Before I wrap this up I also wanted to share a find I recently made. I have been looking at these beads on Amazon for a while and recently broke down and ordered them. They were very inexpensive and consist of interlocking metal rings. They are so petite I can't believe how small the rings are and how many there must be! I saw a lot of potential for them in a design. Here is an example of a flower and then just added embellishments they could be used for. On a cross stitched flower they would be stunning, because honestly they look like they are made from small rhinestones when the light hits them. So you never know where you will find your next mixed media treasure, and that makes doing this work even more exciting. Always keep your eyes and mind open to the possibilities!

My wonderful bead find that can be stitched in
a variety of configurations.

You can see how diminutive they are here.
Doesn't show, unfortunately, how the light reflects
off them, very unique.

 Until later this week, KEEP CREATING! :o)

Your Signature Please

So I tossed around the idea of how I will sign my work. Always thinking of making it look polished and professional, I considered the options of stitching the signature or signing it with ink. Now I have done a lot of needlework and had them finished in different ways for friends and relatives. That being said there was little need for me to put my name on it since they already knew me and they were not my own patterns. I did try to stitch my name on a piece that I entered in our state fair (which I did win a ribbon for) and it looked, well dumb, but it was on there and I wasn't going to rip it out as I had run out of time for submitting it. Now I think I will use my handy dandy fabric markers to sign the work but, I am going to have to practice it. Aida cloth is quite bumpy so having a smooth motion to it is going to require doing it over and over to get the right feel. Fortunately, since it is on a grid, getting it straight shouldn't entail as much work. So how crazy is it to think that I am more nervous about writing my name than designing and then stitching the pattern to sell? After all, I will get one shot at it and hopefully it will look like it is supposed to on there, no ripping out and starting over on this task. Oh well, like so much of what we learn and do, practice, should make perfect.