Fashion, Embroidery and Stitch at the NEC March 21 - 24

Chocolate wrappers free machine stitches with the help of Solufix and Solufleece.

Oh how I suffer for my art!!! I love the bright, shiny colours of chocolate wrappers and enjoy using them as flashes of colour in my work. When ironed lightly between baking parchment they texture like Tyvek but remain soft enough to stitch into. They do ping about a bit if you try to free machine them but with the new Solufix I have no more trouble with them. Solufix is a self adhesive water soluble fabric on a strong backing paper that is removed to reveal the sticky side of the Solufix. Because the backing paper is so firm it means you can run it through an ink jet printer, print your design, remove the backing paper and then lay threads around your design and free machine to your hearts content. You may need to cover your threads with a layer of Solufleece if any of the glue is exposed. The glue will not affect your machine needle.
 
 I stuck all my chocolate wrapper strips to the Solufix and then covered it all in a layer of Solufleece, machined away happily then washed away all the Solufix and Solufleece. FAB!

Sloufleece can also be used to 'Crash' or pucker up fabric.

To 'Crash' with Solufleece you need from the bottom to the top - 
1 layer of Solufleece, 2 layers of Bondaweb off the backing paper (not ironed)
the top layer needs to be thinnish fabric. Natural or synthetic is fine. Stitch the layers together with tram lines, wavy lines, whatever you fancy. then steam with your steam iron without touching the top fabric and your layers will shrink to a third or quarter of the original size.
 
 This is  - yep! newspaper crashed with Solufleece.

 You can of course do all the usual pretty stitchy things with Solufleece . .

 This beautiful doily was made for me by Thelma Judge who teaches all the proper dressmaking workshops at the shows. She is SOOOOO clever.


I am spending  today cutting several rolls of Solufleece in to metre lengths to put into bags ready for the show. I sell more Solufleece than anything else, both on my stand at shows and on www.nid-noi.com.



Fashion, Embroidery & Stitch. NEC, 21st - 24th March
There are 3 shows in one - Fashion, Embroidery & Stitch, Sewing for Pleasure and Hobbycrafts.
I will be part of Fashion, Embroidery and Stitch. This show goes from strength to strength.
There will be many exhibits and displays as well as great tutors and college stands. There is a particularly exciting exhibition from the Calais Lace Museum in France - something not to be missed.
This show will also be special for me as my first group of students who have worked through my new Experimental Textiles course will showing their course work from the past year.

Decovil 1 was decorated with copper heat transfer foil and then printed onto. Great for bags and book covers.

This year we have some fabulous free workshops in the Vilene Workshop as part of Fashion, Embroidery & Stitch
All workshops are free, are for 10 people only and it will be strictly first come first served for that day only - no one can pre book. All tickets will be given out on my stand - L22 (the far right corner as you enter the hall). Workshops will be limited to 2 per person per day.

Vilene Workshop Stand Y08  Every day at -


10.30
Kim Thittichai - Textured and Foiled Decovil 1.
Learn how to decorate iron-on interfacing with transfer foil and then add texture by using texture plates in a die cutting machine. Paint can be added to add depth.
Decovil 1 is fabulous weight of interfacing, suitable for bags, book covers and all manner of craft projects.

11.45
Heidi Ambrose-Brown – Transferring Colour and Pattern.
Come and enjoy the colourful process of transfer printing. Using pre painted and dyed papers you will learn how to create resists adding interest to your prints. Using the classic craft/pelmet Vilene as a base you will create a brightly coloured, firm back ground on which to stitch at later date – or not.

13.00
Jo Leatherland – Bond and Bling!
Have fun with Jo learning how to use Bondaweb for appliqué and for applying transfer foil. Both processes are washable and are so useful for many craft projects.

 14.15
Lynda Monk - Exploring Creative Surfaces
Artist Lynda Monk will show yuo how to create lacy fragments using Vilene Spunbond and Xpandaprint. 
Come and play with creating this surface using heat guns and irons and learn someof the many different ways you can take this technique further.

15.30
Jayne Routley – Needle Felted Poppies.
Explore the potential of needle felting into the classic craft/pelmet Vilene. This white sew-in interfacing is so versatile, Jayne will show you how to use it as a back ground to create your own needle felted picture.
                                                 
                                                      *
Do come and say Hello! if you come to the show - I may be dashing about but will hopefully have time for a quick chat. If I am not on the stand then Jayne will be - Jayne is my left and right hand at this show - I couldn't do it without her. 

                           Right! Back to cutting and packing.

                                              
                                           Hello Tod!!! 
                                       My lovely Auntie

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