Surface Design

I love items that I can use to create new designs on fabric.

Markal and Shiva paintstiks are a great way to add to your fabric. These are oil paint in a stick. You need to wipe off the outer skin which forms when not in use then you can draw with them, use on stencils, brush them on etc, then leave to air dry for 3-6 days for the oil to evaporate and then you can wash them and iron them no problem. I prefer the irridescent ranges as they leave a wonderful metallic sheen on your fabric. Both ranges are NZ$15 each stik
I love to play with Transfer Paints but realise this is slightly contrary to normal patchwork sewing as you require polyester content fabric for the paints to work on. I have a 65/35 polyester cotton which is nice to work with and the paints transfer beautifully. I have the I Dye Poly range, the Polysol range and now we can offer the Crayola Fabric Crayons. The Crayloa Fabric Crayons are easy to work with, you can either draw onto paper and then iron onto your fabric or you can draw directly onto your fabric. Once you iron it the colours really become quite vibrant and much more colourful than un-ironed.There are 8 colours in a pack

I love playing with zips - these ones from Indygo Junction are great because you can use them with patchwork, wearables and jewellery.

These zips are 92cm (36") long and are NZ$4.40 each. Variety of colours available.
Dianne