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Stewart Gill Products are everywhere these days and I receive samples of them from many traders. So do bear in mind that these are widely available from many sources although the particular products reviewed here are definitely stocked by the outlet mentioned.
The Stewart Gill range is expanding to include a Modular Stencil System and a selection of Fantasy Filaments which can be used in a number of ways.
Fantasy Filaments: for embroiderers, the most obvious use is the trapping of these glittery, thread-like filaments between layers of fabric, making the top one sheer, and then stitching to hold the layers together. I tried Holographic, a silvery tinsel-like effect and Crystalline, which is an iridescent, interference colour. The product is called Glitterati and costs around £3.65 per pack.
The Modular Stencil System is not cheap at £7.00 per stencil (£30 for the entire set of 6) and the stencils are a little flimsy but they are easy to clean and, with care, should last quite well. The sets are themed with titles such as Skins and Aztec and are designed to interlock to build up into a bigger piece of work. The stencils have corner and side markings and this makes registration very easy. They also have reasonably large cut-out areas, which I find better than some other texture stencils I have tried. The excellent instructions cover basic stencilling with a fine-textured sponge or impasto techniques with a palette knife. For the ultimate in glitz try using Stewart Gill embossing powder over gold paint and heating with a heat tool.
Available from
WS Touch Base, The Bungalow, The Wyevale Centre, Wareham Road, Owermoigne, Dorset, DT2 8BY, tel: 01305 854099, email: wstouchbase@hotmail.com.
This is a small company specialising in pure silk for embroiderers, textile artists and silk painters. They stock a variety of silks from pongee to silk velvet, ready to paint, and they also offer random dyed fabrics and threads if you don't want to paint your own. A starter pack at £5.00 contains five pieces of silk in various weights, each 28 x 28 cm (11 x 11 in), all ready to dye. They also carry Stewart Gill Galactica and Metallica Paints. We have reviewed the Metallica previously (The World of Embroidery, November 2000). The Galactica paints hold little glitzy particles in a carrier which dries clear to give quite a subtle effect when printed on fabric using a rubber or foam stamp.
Paints £3.75 for 30ml; silk
prices vary. Further information from
Terrace House Designs, 5 Bolton Terrace,
Silsden, Nr Keighley, W Yorks, BD20 0JS, tel: 01535 654026, web site: www.terracehousesilkpainting.co.uk.
I have discovered a new puff paint, this time featuring a black colour. There have been coloured forms of this before but I have never found that they give such a good effect as the (white only) Xpandaprint. However, I do get rather fed up with using acrylic paint to paint this black, so a darker colour is welcome. It does fade to a dark grey when heat is applied and slightly more is needed to give a very raised effect but it still gives a good overall result. Best of all, it can be mixed with the white version to darken this slightly. As it is often difficult to cover the puffed areas satisfactorily when using silk paints, this mixing idea gives a darker starting point and makes for more effective painting techniques. The Stewart Gill Galactica Paints can also be used over the raised puff paint.
Price £2.50 for 60 ml, available
from
Craftynotions.com, PO Box 6141, Newark, NG24 2FQ, tel. 01636 659890,
web site: www.craftynotions.com.