Sewing Vloggers

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Saved by a pencil!


I found another use for my Inktense pencils: coloring elastic! I needed a strong answer to a button loop around a metal stud. The first one, of thread, wore out quickly. But a white piece of elastic would stick out horribly. So I took my pencil, drew on the elastic, and then painted it with water to  spread the color, which is what you do with these pencils. I then heat set it with the iron till dry and voila! Matching elastic loop, happy sewist! (NAYY)..............Bunny

22 comments:

  1. Hair Elastics work great. You can get tons of colors at the dollar store.

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    1. I have used those in the past but didn't have any handy this time. I'll have to hit the dollar store.

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  2. Hair Elastics work great. You can get tons of colors at the dollar store.

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  3. Yea! These pencils are such fun. I recently used the white one to cover a spot on a blouse that I mistakenly touched with the tip of a pen!

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  4. I've found that they are not actually permanent, as in if you put them through the laundry they wash out. I was super disappointed with that, as the lumiere paints, once they're set (and even really if they aren't) are super permanent, but not the inktense. I thought I would warn you, so you could take precaution when laundering.

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    1. Forewarned. I did heat set it. I may some experimenting this weekend and will report what happens.

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    2. I look forward to hearing if you have better luck with them! I bought the full set of both the pencils and the sticks, and was super bummed when the samples (on 100% silk) washed out. I did the 45 minutes in the dryer on high. I'll continue to mess around with them.

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    3. Actually I did some samples on silk charmeuse, just out of curiosity and they definitely did not fade. What I did was paint the samples with two colors of stripes then let them dry. Then I let them cure a week before washing as I read that somewhere. I threw the samples in the washer on warm and they came out great. Again, this was on white silk charmeuse.

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  5. These pencils are supposed to be wash-fast after heat setting. At least their website & youtube videos say so. I hope that's true for your project. Brilliant idea!

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  6. Bunny do you ever interface the bank stay? Or, would interface that portion of the coat and then place the back stay over it?
    This is still quite a learning process for me.

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    1. I would only interface a facing. I do make sure the stay is quite tight and stable fabric, well shrunk, too.

      Faye is working on building a plaid winter coat which you can check out on her blog "Faye's sewing adventure".

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    2. Dear Bunny, I do hope you don't mind me appointing you as my sewing/tailoring teacher. I do have a little experience with tailoring under my belt but not nearly enough.

      You said that you would only interface a facing. That being said, the pattern instructions for my coat says to interfacing the coat front and the coat front facing. Should I do that - interface both, or just the coat front? I hate being confused - I said I was not going to let this coat stress me out, but...

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    3. I would definitely interface the coat front. as well as facings. Email me at bunny pep at gmail dot com and I will give you a few more pointers. I am glad to help.

      I would only interface the back of the garment in the back facing area. Sorry I wasn't clear. But I would definitely put in the stay.

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    4. Thanks for the email address Bunny I'll try not to worry you to death with questions! And thanks also for the interfacing info.

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  7. Dharma site says to use on natural fabrics ( cotton, silk) mentioned. Do they heat set on elastic which I assume is nylon or poly covered? I have used Sharpie markers for the same thing but the pencils may give better color selection.

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  8. I used to use Sharpie markers all the time for trim or to make elastic match when I was doing theatre costumes. I had a big set with lots of colors. Of course, for the stage, no one is getting all that close! Those pencils are very intriguing.

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