Sunflower Brooch

I made this brooch in memory of my lovely niece who sadly died recently. Sunflowers were one of her favourite flowers so I'll wear it at her funeral tomorrow. She died after a battle with cancer and had just turned 40 which is way to young to die.

I took all these photos at the same time in the same room, but in different places. I don't like the brooch that much from looking at the photos, I think it looks better in reality. [I hope]

I made it by drawing on Evolon [which does not fray], then painting it with Inktense Blocks and water. I stitched French knots in the middle then surrounded them with beads. I covered a round metal brooch finding [the type that has 2 parts to it -  back with pin and top sieve disc] with painted Evolon so none of the metal would show. I then glued the sunflower to it.

Embroidered Snowman

The snowman was cut in 'evolon' creative fabric, it's white and doesn't fray so its handy [ans can be painted]. I used fabric scraps for the scarf, hat and nose. A pen was used for the red part of the buttons which spread a little but there are tiny real buttons in the centres. His mouth and eyes are beads as well as the snow falling from the sky. The crumply snow is Tyvek melted between heat proof paper with an iron.

Evolon Samples

I've been experimenting with evolon for a possible art quilt.

Evolon is a non-woven microfilament fabric which you can paint, dye, distress, sew, cut, glue and embroider.

Top - I used heat transfer paints on paper and then transferred the image by ironing onto the evolon. The fabric will melt if it gets too hot but I didn't have any melting problems with this sample. I drew some of the decorative marks on afterwards with a fabric pen. 

I dismissed this option for the quilt as I find it very difficult to get an even colour, notice the lighter patches although it's probably my ironing technique and I'm not too sure about the look of it.

Below - Inkjet print. I ironed a piece to freezer paper and used it in the printer. The fabric had been folded and had creases which I tried ironing lightly to remove but as you can see they are still there. It has printed very well but the ink caught on the crease and left some black marks. These are only tiny but it has put me off using the printer in case I ruin it. I would need to print some larger pieces for the quilt so I have dismissed this method for the quilt. You can purchase evolon in sheets for an inkjet, but I purchased yardage.