I got a bit behind with my Stitchbook Collective, this is the series of on-line workshops which Helen Bellingham from Untangled Threads is running. They’ve been great for trying new techniques and products…and pushing me so far out of my comfort zone I don’t know where it is!!

I had three boxes waiting to be creative with, I chose to do the Image Transfer one first. Helen described about half a dozen techniques for transferring an image onto fabric from PVA glue and Bondaweb, to sellotape and sticky back plastic. I learnt several things, like the difference between photocopied images and printed – it has to be photocopied to transfer.

In the end I tried just two of the techniques, mainly because I found one I liked and could see myself using. I also didn’t fancy the plasticky ness of some techniques, such as T-shirt heat transfer or the sticky back plastic.

First of all I tried PVA glue, it was pretty simple, in that you applied glue to the fabric and the image and stuck it down firmly, then left it to dry. After 24 hours you soaked it in water and rubbed the paper away leaving the image…only I don’t know where I went wrong but the image rubbed off too, however gentle I was!

The second technique was similar but Bondaweb was used to stick the image to the fabric. The big advantage is that it is instant, you can immediately soak it and gently rub the paper away. I used the flower image which Helen provided, transferring it to calico. It transferred beautifully, although I noted I would have been better to trim a little closer to the image.

To make it into something I either needed to cover it or cover the edges, I had a rummage in my stash and found some sort of tulle printed tape, it’s actually designed for knitting with, so it’s got holes down one side. One of the flowers echoed the shape of the printed flower, so I overlaid it, popping a scrap of blue under the hole which nicely made an extra petal!. I added a scrap of lace on either side (left over from my first wedding dress 30 years ago!!) and then just back-stitched round the outline with a variegated thread. You can still see the detail of the flower through the tulle.

I tried to be a bit arty-farty with the next attempt. On one of the samples Helen had transfered an image to a collage, I liked the effect so I stitched together some lace, silk and a vintage scrap of broderie Anglais. One of the hospice charities round here used to have a stall at the Great Yorkshire Show just selling vintage linens, they obviously had a member who knew how to care for linen as they were all beautifully pressed and laundered. They also had lengths of lace which looked like they had been cut off things which were unsaleable, I bought all sorts of short lengths of lace, this was one, it probably cost me pennies. I loved that stall and used to make a beeline for it! I digress…

I used simple running stitch to keep all the pieces together and then tried to transfer the picture of a butterfly using bondaweb. It did transfer but it was very fragile, ideally I would have rubbed more paper off but I didn’t dare. It was a good lesson really in that you do need a reasonably firm foundation of fabric, mine was too uneven, especially with the lace.

To add a bit of colour I initially tried inktense pencils, that didn’t do much as I had to be so gentle. I then had the idea of using silk paints, thinking that they don’t tend to run and spread on silk that has been previously wetted. It worked! I edged it with a silver thread to make it look like a common blue.

It’s worked and it’s pretty, but it is very fragile.

It’s a useful technique to remember and bondaweb is something I usually have in my sewing room.

I’m sharing this with Wild Daffodil for Textile Tuesday – I started writing it on Tuesday but my computers playing up with photos! Today it finally agreed to accept some off my camera!! Anyway, follow the link to see more textile links.