9 March 2024
We had a full day workshop today learning about various ways to add metallic shine to our textile art. Kathryn Knapp led the workshop and generously provided us all with a huge variety of metallics to work with, as well as background felt and other fabrics.
Firstly, Kathryn undertook a ‘show and tell’ with many examples of her artwork with different metal techniques. Other group members also showed some of their own work (including Ros Knight’s work with metallic individual coffee pods). Suitably inspired, we then learned how to:
- Always use baking parchment between your iron and the metallic surface you are attaching to the fabric or you could end up with a sticky, messy iron. Similarly, place work onto a piece of baking parchment, not directly on your ironing board, to solve the same potential problem!
- Apply sweet wrapper foils to create a dynamic chequerboard effect. Stich a grid pattern, use Bondaweb to attach to the grid pattern, removing every other square foil to leave this space blank.
- Use coloured metallic foils. Counterintuitively, place the foil coloured side up when ironing down, and the glue backing will melt into the fabric to hold it in place. Using the side of your iron can add more interest by attaching small slivers of foil, or by removing a section of foils already attached. Add additional layers with different coloured foils for a really bling effect!
- Take firmer pieces of metal and colour them by heating to get a variety of beautiful shaded metallics.
- Use moulding tools (the sort sold for modelling clay) to hammer, bend, lift and generally add texture to these thicker metallics.
- See how the thicker foils can be used in a 3D effect, staying proud of the fabric.
- Experiment with other tools to make marks in the metals, including pens (tops and points) to create textured background surfaces etc.
We also used hand sewing and sewing machines to stitch through our metallics. Plain thread or metallic thread can be used (but sew slower if using metallics, as they have a tendency to snag and break if not careful).
It was a great fun day playing, but we also ended up producing a range of designs, name badges and sample pieces to be proud of.
