Bondaweb Technique

Gillian Allen

Bondaweb Technique

This is quite a complicated one, needs a bit of planning and gathering of materials but the finished pieces are worth it and make great journal/book covers.

You need

1.              An old iron.

2.              Baking parchment (non stick paper)

3.              Bondaweb, this is used for appliqué and mending fabric, it's a heat activated film of glue on backing paper, if you buy a yard you've got lots to practice with.

4.              Paper or material you can experiment with both

5.              Material: silk or polyester or try all sorts, has to be dyed

Paper: I've used, and this is very good wait for it: - Baby wipes, I use them to clean rubberstamps, and are soft, thick, absorbent of dye/paint and can be sewn into. Wash first, while damp brush on some paints, I like watercolour powder as you mix to required strength and is cheap, acrylics watered down a bit, dyes, anything in harmonious colours let run and merge into each other, then dry.

I've also tried nappy liners, which are excellent, as they also do not disintegrate with water. Filmy fabrics can be ironed onto soft iron on Vylene or for a thick piece Pelmet Vylene, dye/paint these

Embellishments: think about you colour scheme. Find small bits of shimmery/ glitzy/sheer/transparent/ fabrics, metallic threads/unusual yarns, cut up, glitter, sequins, tiny beads, fine wire, tissue paper, you get the picture.

Method

1 lay dyed, dried piece on non stick paper

2 cut out piece bondaweb slightly bigger than paper, lay glue side down, on top.

3 Cover with more non-stick paper. Hot iron over whole piece, cool.

4 Peel off backing paper gently, you might need to iron a bit more if not pulling away.

5 Lay piece down again on NS paper. Sprinkle embellishments over in one layer.

6 Cover with NS paper and iron again with hot iron.

7 Cool and take off paper.

Some more things you can do with it

1 Iron over (NS paper to cover) fine chiffon, if acrylic, you can try melting it in places with a hot air gun, gently at first.

2 Rub down fashion metallic film or laser print gold film. With a cool iron (try a small bit first as this needs practice) quickly iron over (colour face up). You just want a hint of a sparkle here and there.

Or try next technique.

You can machine embroider with metallic threads all over it

This method takes a bit of experimenting to achieve subtlety but bondaweb has great potential for those wanting some exciting surfaces.

Painted Bondaweb

This can be used to cover the above, to tone it down or give added interest, or on more dyed paper/fabric

You need

Acrylic inks/paints, bright fluorescents/metallics can look good

Piece of bondaweb.

Method

1 Paint Bondaweb with runnyish paint, let run in rivulets, keep some areas not painted, dry.

2 Iron over paper or fabric

3 Peel off backing

This stuff is reactivated when ironed (use non-stick paper over it) and you can sprinkle glitter or whatever on top and iron again.

Bondaweb Sandwich

This technique is fun you could play for hours.

You need

Oblong piece of Bondaweb

Same size piece of transparent fabric i.e. acrylic chiffon sort used for headscarves.

Some fine pot-pourie or similar scraps.

Method

1 Lay Bondaweb glue up on NS paper.

2 One half sprinkle pot-pourrie, scraps filmy shiny fabric, or tissue (experiment)

3 Fold Bondaweb in half, cover with NS paper.

4 Iron (hot) together, cool, peel off backing.

5 Put between piece chiffon, iron.

6 Gently melt chiffon so it goes lacy.

It melts away where there are gaps.

Sometimes I burn (I’ve got a pyrography tool) round the edges leaving some bits dangling. You have to really use man made fibres for the melting bit.

Flower Petals and Bondaweb

This is a bit easier.

You need

Bondaweb

Paper or filmy fabric same size

Selection of petals, small flowers or leaves
Method

1 Lay out fabric or paper, arrange petals etc over.

2 Peel glue off Bondaweb, lay over petals

3 Cover with NS paper,

4 Hot iron all over.

Take off paper, any not stuck just re-iron.

Some flowers/petals do go dark some are better than others. If using on paper it might be a better idea to stick down pressed flowers.

Hydrangeas stay good.