Exquisite Evolon Marion Barnett

Exquisite Evolon Marion Barnett

Evolon is a non woven polyester/nylon cloth, a microfibre, which is a bit like working with suede or velvet. Like Lutradur, it does not fray, and tolerates heat well, so takes transfer dyes beautifully. However, as there is a nylon element, it is also possible to acid dye, making it really easy to colour. I couldn't resist writing a book about it, as I'm a texture fan, and the texture of this cloth is just gorgeous.

The book has ten chapters, which split into three sections. The first talks about dyeing using both transfer and acid dyes, whilst the second discusses inkjet printing and distressing using heat (burning), two of the special effects you can achieve with this flexible cloth. The remaining chapters are projects, which are discussed step by step with process photographs.

The projects are followed by a gallery of images of different kinds of work made by using Evolon, from a number of different artists, with a variety of different skill levels, most of whom had never worked with Evolon before. Tracy Borders describes her experience of making work for the book here; other artists include Sally Bramald, the UK queen of feather quilting, who made a fantastic whole cloth quilt for the book....and who is still talking to me, despite me asking her to work with polyester!