TYVEK!!!

Years ago when I was a part of the Cloth Dollmaking World and when I dabbled in Free Machine Embroidery, Tyvek was a product that we played with and I was amazed at the results of this unassuming spun woven fabric-like product.  You can now by Tyvek through places like The Thread Studio here in Perth or you can simply google it to find other suppliers.  Alternatively, the strong white envelopes that you sometimes get goods delivered from the US in, well that's Tyvek too!  Tyvek reacts to heat, both an iron and a heat gun but very differently!  The heat gun is used to make the beads and the iron creates the bubbly surfaces you will see below on my samples.  If you're ironing it, there's no need to iron both sides, one will do but if you're doing beads, better to paint both sides of it.  Using a metallic paint gives this finished product a wonderful sheen and looks much better than just using a normal flat acrylic paint.  I've used a variety of metallic paints  -  Jo Sonja metallics, Folk Art Metallic Paints, Deco Art Metallic Paints and Lumiere metallics.... simply gorgeous!!!!  There are a few you-tube video's out there so take a look to see how this stuff works 

"Disney"...

"Chocolate"...

"Regret"...

"Two inch sample square #1"...

"Two inch sample square #2"...

"Wrapped Tyvek Bead with Wire"... 

As this is the beginning of Book #14, this is my cover that's not yet complete...the Tyvek as you can see makes up the long wavy seaweed bits as well as the gold sections down the bottom.  The size of this page is 8" x 6".

These are unadorned beads, though the edges have been fluted (cut into diagonally) before I rolled and heated them on the skewer which gives them a raggedy look.

More to come!