Tyvek Leaf…..

March 19, 2018 / Karen Lane / 9 Comments

Today’s workshop was for four lovely ladies from the Nottingham area. Freda and her friends had seen my Tyvek Leaf on Pinterest and got in touch to say they fancied having a go at making one for themselves.

Trisha and Carol

Freda and Pat

Non of them had used Tyvek previously so we looked at the various colouring mediums that can be applied, discussed the difference between the paper and fabric versions and saw how each reacted to heat.

With lots of chatting and laughter (hearing us from the hallway my other half swears I put something illegal in the homemade soup!) the day was gone before we knew it!

Work in progress

Each of the ladies produced some wonderful work which they will mount on their chosen papers and put in a box frame once they get home.

Thanks to all for being such eager students….I’m already looking forward to hosting you again on your return visit for Feltmaking!

Tyvek Leaves at Alford….

September 8, 2017 / Karen Lane / 7 Comments

Today saw the first of my workshops at the Alford Craft Market Centre. Alford Craft Market is a not for profit organisation promoting quality Lincolnshire Crafts run entirely by volunteers. The shop is stocked with a wide variety of hand-made items including ceramics, felting, textiles and jewellery to name just a few. There are always a variety of classes and workshops to choose from including pottery and glass, felting, textiles, etc. Classes are held in the Big Lottery funded studio at the rear of the Craft Market Shop.

I had five ladies in the studio today making Tyvek Leaves. It was a lovely group and a relaxing day, this is how they got on…..

Annie’s leaf

Jo’s leaf

Rose’s leaf

Allison’s leaf

Molly’s leaf

Next month we may be using some Tyvek again along with various other materials including Lutradur, Vilene, cellophane, fabric, paper and found objects when we spend the day creating with mixed media.

Seeing their finished work…..

August 31, 2017 / Karen Lane / 4 Comments

When I’m teaching workshops I get a lot of satisfaction from motivating students and from seeing their finished work, but not everyone gets to finish their project in class. So I get particularly excited when someone takes the time to photograph their finished piece and email it to me. This week I’ve recieved images of Jane and Pams Tyvek Leaves, beautifully executed and framed, which they created at the workshop in Billinghay last week.

Also Deborah sent me this photo of her wonderful Bergschaf wall hanging which was made at the workshop in East Keswick earlier this month.

Tyvek Leaves…..

August 22, 2017August 22, 2017 / Karen Lane / 4 Comments

A few photos from today’s Tyvek Leaf workshop organised by Mary for six friends in Billinghay…….

The ladies made some really beautiful leaves.

Tyvek Leaves in Waltham…..

May 13, 2017 / Karen Lane / 2 Comments

My blue/green handmade leaf stitched with metallic thread and embellished with tiny coloured beads.

Tyvek leaf with metallic thread and beading.

I’ve just got back from spending a wonderful day with Jacky Hopkin and her group of ladies who meet at Waltham Windmill on the outskirts of Grimsby. I was invited over to teach them the technique of making a Tyvek Leaf using coloured fabric Tyvek and a wire armature.

Once again we ended up with a variety of different shapes and colours, each one very different to the next, and each leaf will look beautiful when the stitching and beading has been added. The ladies will finish these off at home and bring them back to their meeting next month for a “show and tell”.

Many thanks to Jackie and the group for inviting me over and thank you to Brenda for providing me with a delicious lunch! I shall look forward to seeing you all again.

Josie’s Tyvek Leaf…..

April 9, 2017April 9, 2017 / Karen Lane / 2 Comments

Tyvek Leaf made Josie at the Louth Textile Group.

This gorgeous Tyvek Leaf was made by Josie, one of the Louth Textile Group, at my Tyvek Leaf Workshop last Friday. The addition of stitching and beading has transformed it……absolutely beautiful! Please keep the photos coming in as and when you finish your leaves.

Tyvek Leaf Workshop…..

April 8, 2017April 9, 2017 / Karen Lane / 2 Comments

Tyvek leaf

Last night I was invited to deliver my Tyvek Leaf Workshop to 24 creative ladies from the Louth Textile Group who meet once a month at the Conoco Rooms above Louth Library. Time was going to be a little tight with 24 participants and less than two hours to make our leaves but all of the ladies rose to the challenge knowing that they would have to complete their project at home.

We began by colouring our Tyvek using our chosen medium, either felt markers, fabric paint, acrylics or watercolours. While this was drying the ladies made their wire leaf framework.

Every leaf was a different shape and there were some interesting colour schemes taking place………

Tyvek Leaves created by ladies at the Louth Textile Group

Selection of Tyvek Leaves painted and distressed and ready for embellishing

It was a fun night which went all too quickly…..I wish I had made the time to take more (and better) photos! With no time at the end for a “show and tell” I’m hoping to receive images of the finished work, complete with stitching and beading, when the group meet again next month.

Many thanks to all the ladies for making feel so welcome.

Spalding Embroiderers Tyvek Leaves…..

March 2, 2017March 2, 2017 / Karen Lane / 11 Comments

Yesterday I spent a very enjoyable day in the company of a lovely group of ladies, the Spalding Embroiderers, who meet at Pode Hole Village Hall in the Lincolnshire Fens. The group had booked me to do a workshop for them, giving me free reign to decide what we would be doing.

I wanted to offer them something completely different and something I was pretty sure they wouldn’t have done before. I settled on putting together a workshop to make my Tyvek Leaves. Tyvek is a wonderful product to work with as it has so many possibilities when it comes to colouring, shaping and distressing.

Tyvek leaf with metallic thread and beading.

It felt a bit of a risk as it would involve so many different stages and I wasn’t sure how the group would take to shaping wire frames using pliers. I needn’t have worried, their enthusiasm and positivity was terrific and the hall was filled with conversation and laughter all through the day! In fact, putting together this workshop has reminded me of how much fun I had designing my first leaves and it’s been great to get back to making more of them.

The leaves worked out beautifully. As you can see, everyone got their leaf to the stage of it having been distressed with the heat gun but unfortunately we ran out of time to get the holes embroidered so they will continue with that at home. I hope to receive photos of some of the finished leaves as and when they get done.

A big thank you to all the Spalding Embroidery ladies for making me feel so welcome and for being such wonderful, enthusiastic students! I shall look forward to seeing you all at our next workshop.

Lutradur Autumn Leaf…..

October 17, 2014December 20, 2015 / Karen Lane / 9 Comments

This is a photograph of two autumn leaves and a leaf skeleton I made from Lutradur.

Autumn Leaf skeleton made from Lutradur

This is a skeleton leaf which I created in response to the 4th quarter challenge from the Felting and Fibre Studio. The subject matter was chosen by Zed, who specialises in felt making, and it required participants to create something along the lines of “land art”.

Tyvek leaf with metallic thread and beading.

My immediate thought was to create an Autumn Leaf, possibly a leaf skeleton, and photograph it with real fallen leaves. I had previously made a couple of leaves from Tyvek which were embellished with metallic threads and beads, but for this challenge I wanted to make a more natural looking leaf.

A photograph showing my painted leaf having the veins sewn on using my Janome sewing machine

The painted leaf has veins sewn on.

I thought I would try out a new material which I had bought a few months ago but not yet made the time to experiment with. It was a heavy weight Lutradur purchased on-line from nid-noi.com Lutradur is one of several Spunbonded textiles which include Tyvek, Evolon and Kunin. These are manmade fibres with strength and flexibility making them ideal for textile art. They can be washed, dyed, painted, printed, stitched, burned, fused, foiled, stenciled, and slashed with ease. You name it, spunbonded textiles can take it.

I began by sketching an outline and coloured the fabric with Inktense blocks. Once the paint was dry I drew the veins, using a Frixion pen. The leaf and the veins were then machine stitched using Gutterman green 100% cotton thread and an open toe embroidery foot. Once the leaf was cut out I used my heat tool to distress it. It was at this stage that I discovered Lutradur doesn’t shrink and distort like Tyvek……it wasn’t reacting as I had thought it would. I had made the leaf larger than it needed to be thinking it would shrivel but it turns out that when you blast Lutradur with heat your work retains its overall shape and size. Having said that, I loved the lacy effect it created and was really pleased with the finished leaf skeleton.