Two hours with Fusibles and Transfer Foil - Denise

Our latest playtime saw us trying out different ways of applying transfer foil. We used Vilene Bondaweb and Hot Spots, MistyFuse, and Kim Thittachai's KK Glue. As usual, most of the items we use are sold at Craft Arena, although I must admit my stocks of some are a bit low at present! We did get carried away with our play, and must remember to take more pictures next time!

First of all, we tore up painted Bondaweb which we applied to white fabric - I just love the effect this gives, use diluted paint, not too thick).

We then put transfer foil on top, coloured side up. Use a medium setting to release the foil; too hot an iron will melt the plastic carrier. Don't use your best iron, I bought a cheap one from my local supermarket to use in mixed media work. I first used red foil, which I stroked with the tip of the iron, then I used aqua foil which had already been used in another project. You can see the dots left behind which were transferred to this sample - I don't throw away any foil until it has all been used!

This is the sample with the transfer foil added. I'm not sure you will be able to see the full extend of the sparkle, but believe me, it's there!

I decided to do a bit more to this the following day, and you can see the results a little later.

In this sample, I have taken the red foil I used previously, and applied it to black polycotton with MistyFuse - a fusible web without paper backing. This is a great medium, as you get a spidery, webby effect. If you use too hot an iron, you do tend to get a solid mess, but just rub it, and the excess foil will flake away from the areas without glue. I then used purple foil which adhered to the gaps in red foil.

Time now to play with Hot Spots. This is in the form of dots on a paper-backed glue which is available in two sizes on A4 sheets and inch-wide strips. In this sample I have cut wavy lines through a piece of the strip and applied it to black polycotton, then applied purple foil. You do need the iron a little hotter for this than bondaweb. This is great for specific shapes you would like to add to your projects. The Hot Spot paper can be put through a cutting machine, cut with scissors or punched out. Do be careful not to cut it over your work though, as some of the dots do tend to fall off the paper and onto your work, and you won't realise until you have applied the foil. Once applied, it is washable, so it's great for adding to clothing.

We tried using different tools for heating the foil. I'd not tried using a soldering iron before, and found out why! It heats up too much and melts the foil unless you are very careful! Not a success.

This sample was foiled with a Clover mini-iron on painted Bondaweb. 

These irons are intended for quilters to use to apply binding, and to iron small areas of fabric to get a good crease, but mine has never been used for that and couldn't be now! These irons are quite expensive, but I can get a cheaper alternative. If anyone is interest, let me know via the website.

The following day I decided to knock back the shine a bit by laying over some light purple chiffon I had in my stash. I then free-machined over the top...

... and then zapped it with a heat gun. As the fabric was synthetic, it did buckle a bit, adding to the texture of the sample.

More play soon!

Denise