Natalya Aikens sets about showing the techniques she uses, in a very straight forward manner. She doesn't waste time with silly catch phrases or have her pet cat running around the set. She has information to impart and she does so with no frills. I have to say - I like that!
This dvd is produced by Cloth-Paper-Scissors a sister publication to Quilting Arts. It is 67 minutes long and costs $19.95. The link is here.
Now, you do not make a project with this dvd, it is an ideas format, something to get those creative juices flowing. So if you want your hand held as you make something, this isn't the dvd for you.
Natalya takes you through a variety of fabrics and recyclable items that you can use for your projects. She also shows you some of the different 'fabrics' you can print on (using your home computer and printer), which seems to amount to just about anything. I had never thought of printing on dryer sheets for example. I think Natalya just gathers up everything in her home and hoards it in her studio! She had candy wrappers, those nets that fruit comes in, dryer lint - all ready to use in her projects. I have to say though, I have never understood why people stick plastic bags in their art, but then again, I have never been known for my recycling skills. Maybe this just makes you feel better about buying all those bags in the first place!
Natalya demonstrates how a couple of very basic embroidery stitches can be adapted, and what effect you can gain with them using different threads. This is not an embroidery dvd, so we are talking about running stitch here, and straight forward machine stitching.
For all of you who are frightened of using your computers to print onto fabric, there is a good basic section, to get you playing with the effects in photoshop. For those of you who still don't know what I am going on about, you'd better run out now and get this dvd! Natalya shows how to alter the photos, and then how they vary, when printed on different surfaces. Natalya shows how to adhere your fabric of choice to freezer paper and gives advice on drying times. Even though I knew some of the things she showed, I still found this really interesting and could certainly see all sorts of possibilities.
The last section looked at applying colour to the projects. Natalya used two different surfaces, (plain white, heavily stitched cotton, and a dryer sheet that had been printed and then stitched). Textile paints, oil sticks, watercolour pencils, Pigma pens and water soluble crayons, are used to colour the two different surfaces. It was interesting to see how the two surfaces reacted to the different colour mediums. Also, for someone like me, really exciting. Applying colour in this way is FUN!
Whilst demonstrating, Natalya showed examples of her own work to elaborate on the technique under discussion, occasionally adding a bit to the work just to expand on what she was saying. We were left with a clear idea as to what could be done, without receiving a colour by numbers guide.
Overall I think this dvd is well worth the money - and is even better value if you get it in a sale! If you are interested in surface design, but are a bit unsure how to get going, this will put some good ideas into your head.
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