We have a beautiful hibiscus bush in our garden. It was only planted last year but is growing like crazy. The bush is absolutely covered in huge flowers that are so large the stems can barely hold the bloom upwards. The flowers last for a few days before fading then falling to the ground. I've been collecting them in a bucket and drying them for the past few weeks ready to use.

In the past I have made hibiscus tea, a slightly tart drink that is very refreshing and is nice hot or cold. I have also read about using it to make ice cream, sorbet, meringues and jam but the problem is I know the plant was sprayed with pesticide earlier in the summer as it had a bad case of blackfly - so I definitely don't want to use them for anything to eat. That leaves me with another great option.............

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For this weenend's workshop we will be using hexagons (well..... maybe!) as the starting point to create an art quilt something along the lines of the yellow quilt above. I wanted to explore different possibilities, so I made a further two quilts to try out a few more ideas (see images above). The green one is similar in many ways to the yellow one, and the last one doesn't use hexagons at all - but Suffolk Puffs, another very traditional and English patchwork piece (currently known by the more funky name 'yoyos'). Thanks to Jamie Malden for sharing her 'how to' video on youtube on the right.
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I discovered that the paint took up better onto fabric that was moist (not soaking wet). I got the best results when I misted the fabric with water from a spray bottle and let it sit for about ten minutes to penetrate the fibres.







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​​Please feel free to share my website or blog with your friends by using the buttons to the right. If you would like to receive an e mail each time I post a new blog, please click here. I promise to never send you junk or give your address to anybody else.

I got my screwdriver out and started to unscrew the most obvious screws I could see. I must say, I did unplug the machine first.

Remember to always unplug the machine from the mains before you go in deep! Not just switch it off, but remove the plug from the wall. I once was at a workshop when a beautiful old Bernina started stitching all by iteslf!
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I started by taking off the foot and needle - pretty standard for when you clean your machine. (You do regularly clean your machine, don't you?) I removed those so I could easily get access to the bobbin zone and not damage myself on the needle.

Next, I removed the two small screws that hold down the needle plate. 

Put the screws into a little pot - or even a few if you are likely to mix up different screws from different places. Those things can get lost at the drop of a hat!

​If you have a machine with a drop in bobbin, you will be looking at something similar to this. See all those little fibres?  If this is the first time you have been in here make a note of which way the dish is positioned. 
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A quick photo is always a good way to remind yourself of where things were before you started.

On my machines I regularly take out the bobbin case (that little black dish thing). It is amazing how much fluff accumulates there. Depending on what you are stitching you may need to give it a clear out every time you change the bobbin. I clean mine with a tiny soft paintbrush, on both sides. Check it carefully and get your glasses out if you need to!
While it is out inspect the bobbin case all over. As this type is made from plastic they can become accidentally damaged by the needle. Look for scratches, burrs, and other irregularities. If they aren't major you can try to smooth them out with one of those boards you use to buff your nails (not an emery board), but be gentle and be aware that it might make the problem worse, so use your judgement. If there is a big chunk or gouge in the plastic it might just need to replace the whole dish. 

 
Once the bobbin case is out you will see the race mechanism. If you manually turn the wheel on the sewing machine you will see how the parts of the machine move and how it all works. (If your machine has a vertical bobbin it may be a little more difficult to see, and the removal of the bobbin case will be done is a slightly different way. The user manual for your machine will tell you everything you need to know.) 

The amount of fluff, odd threads and dare I say it, broken needle tips that accumulate down here is astonishing. Carefully and gently get as much of it out as possible. Again, I use a small paintbrush and have a good poke around deep into the workings. Get a little torch and shine it in; look for any stray threads that may be trapped or tangled. If you can reach them with a seam ripper gently ease them out. If you can't do this without risking damage to yourself or the machine now is the time to call in a professional.     
*Some people use compressed air from a can - I have used this in the past, and it really does blast out lots of fluff, but I have read it can also blast fibres deep into moving the parts of the machine too, (which can't be good) so I don't use that very often any more. I have also seen little vacuum cleaners for computer keyboards that might be worth trying too.

Then I went a bit off piste. Do you see those concentric dark circles in the centre of the picture. Right in the middle of that is a little bit of fluffy looking stuff (some machines just have a hole here). I took a pair of pointy tweezers and gently pulled on the fluffy bit which pulled up a long piece of felt that looked a bit like a wick.

Now, my machine manual says there is no need to lubricate. Ever. Well, I disagree. Having lived in hot, humid and sometimes sandy places I have come to realise that a sewing machine likes to be lubricated. So I ignore the 'no-lube' rule and use a tiny amount of very fine sewing machine oil from time to time. I lube wherever metal parts move and touch. So for this machine, I remove the little wick and put one drop of oil down the hole and then replace the wick. 

Satisfied that there was nothing else in this part of the machine that I could do myself, I reassembled the pieces then manually turned the flywheel  to raise and lower the needle post, just to make sure everything was moving freely and that I had put the puzzle back correctly. 

You did unplug the machine, didn't you?

Next I turned my attention to the top part of the machine - somewhere I don't often go!

I had a good look at my machine and found another screw on the back that I could easily remove. This screw hold on the plastic case that covers the sewing head. This is where the squeak seemed to be coming from and where there are lots more of moving metal parts. I was careful to put the screw into my little yellow pot so as not to loose it.

If you have never done this it is worth a look. Be careful not to dislodge any of the cables, and don't go poking around too much, but once again I was amazed at the fluff and stuff that had accumulated up here. 
I manually moved the fly wheel again and looked carefully to see what was going on. I could see there was a piece of thread metallic thread (that stuff is so tricky isn't it!!) that had got itself tangled in there. Using long pointy tweezers I was able to easily pull it out. I gave everything a good brush with my little paintbrush, starting from top to bottom and removed quite a few chunks of fluff. 

I also found a small lump of accumulated lint on the take up lever, which I used the tweezers to ease off. It came off like a tiny doughnut!

Once all the fluff was gone  I carefully put one drop of oil onto each moving joint for all the parts I could reach, then moved on to the next part of the machine - the tension discs.

​The tension discs on my machine are covered by a small plastic plate with yet another little screw holding it in place. After undoing it I gently eased the plastic cover off. 

And there they are - to the left of the big spring - the tension disks! Put the presser foot lever up and down a few times and you will see what happens. 

To clean between the discs and under the little thread guide plate I discovered (above right) ​I took a spool of thick thread and put two drops of my old favourite, 'Sewer's Aid' between my forefinger and thumb. I pulled a length of thread between them to add a little lube to the thread. Then I threaded the machine up as normal (minus the needle) and pulled the thread back and forth (think dental floss)  several times through the whole mechanism. Quite a bit of fluff and odd bits of thread were dislodged. To finish I put a drop of oil on the spring area and then put all the parts and screws back into place. 

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 It is good to know about how the tension discs are controlled, as when you thread your machine you should always have the foot in the 'up' position so the thread can slide nicely between the discs. Once the foot goes down the discs close together according to the tension setting you have selected.

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I have had one of those weeks where I was busy and did a lot - but don't have much in the way to show for it. I did lots of walking on the beach and things like sewing on hanging sleeves and making quilt labels, sorting out a big pile of drawings and stitch samples that  needed to be organised and stuck into my sketchbook, making more walnut ink - and dyeing some fabric along the way (which led me to a much needed sort through my hand dyed fabrics) and - horror of horrors - discovering that the vegetarian agar agar gelli plates have gone mouldy!!!! (more on that later).

Cut a 10 inch wide strip of a reasonably firm weave fabric (muslin is not good).  The length of strip should be 1.5inches shorter than the width of the quilt. 

Then iron a 1/4inch fold on both short ends of the strip and stitch it down.

Now fold the strip in half lengthways and iron the fold - the orange line.

Then open it up and fold both long sides into the centre fold and iron - the green lines. You now have three lines marking your strip in quarters.

Now stitch down the quarter folds about 1/8in from the edge - the black line top and bottom of the diagram.
This line of stitching gives your sleeve strength, allows the baton to lie along a straight line and makes it much easier to slip stitch the sleeve onto the quilt.

​Now put together the two long edges and sew a 1/2in seam. This should be ironed open.


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Now put together the two long edges and sew a 1/2in seam. This should be ironed open.

This last seam sits on the back of your quilt. The sleeve should now be 5in at the front and 4in at the back ie puffing up into a "D" shape.

Now you can stitch your sleeve onto your quilt 1in below the top of the quilt. Please sew all the way round the sleeve so that the baton goes onto the sleeve, not behind it.
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I recently ran two workshops at Midsomer quilting covering a range of exciting techniques to add surface design to fabrics. Both days were great fun - if a little hectic - and lots of beautiful fabric samples were made.

One of the techniques we covered was monoprinting using gelatine plates. I wrote a blog quite a long time ago covering how to make your own reusable 'long-life' gelatine plate (I will put my recipe for a gelatine plate further on in this post), but as I had two ladies at one of the workshops who preferred not to use a product created derived from pork / beef I have been busy trying to perfect a non gelatine based plate. Messing about like this appeals to the chemist side of me, and along the way I have discovered some very interesting things - a few of which I will share for those who are interested!

I also received a lovely message from Sue who also attended one of the workshops. She had a problem buying regular gelatine in her local supermarket - they only had Vege-gel in stock.  This is a carrageenan based product - something I can't find here in New Zealand (at the moment!) so for the time being this is my agar agar based recipe. (Note: agar agar is known by many names; China grass, Faluda, Japanese Moss, Ceylon Moss and Bengal Isinglass to name a few) I have done some research into Vege-gel and have some ideas which I list further down that you could try if you want to make a vege gelli plate. I would suggest trying out a just a small quantity  and see how your plate turns out.
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Ingredients:
50g agar agar powder
600ml water (approx 2.5 cups)
2 teaspoons of salt
225ml glycerine (approx 1 cup)

(with these quantities I made one 18cm x 18cm gelli plate and two 18cm x 10cm gelli plates)

 INTERESTING STUFF

Both agar agar and carageenan are derived from red seaweed. On food labels is also known as E406

My 'Telephone Brand' agar is pure agar. No added anything. A little goes a L-O-N-G way!

Vege-gel is a commercially created product made for cullinary use. It is a mixture of carageenan, locust bean gum and other substances. The gum helps to stop the gel being so brittle, and stops the prepared gel from 'weeping' - an important difference from the pure agar agar powder.

A special property of agar is the large difference between the gelling temperature and the melting temperature. (known as hysteresis).
Although it melts at 85 °C (185 °F) it solidifies from 32–40 °C ( 90–104 °F) so – it won’t melt on you on a hot day like gelatine can. A useful property in warm climates.

Gather together the ingredients and a few utensils.

Agar agar, glycerine, salt, water
Saucepan, tray to mold your gelli plate, whisk, teaspoon, spatula.

I have added salt to my recipe as I wanted to increase the pH. I read that pH noticeably affects the strength of the agar gel; as the pH decreases, the gel strength weakens.  Having tested this out I have noticed the addition of salt really makes a much less brittle plate.

Mix the salt into the water and then add the agar agar, whisking with a balloon whisk to make sure all of the powder is wet and incorporated. You don't want any dry lumps on the bottom or around the edges.
I left mine to sit for about 5 minutes to make sure it was nicely mixed and the water absorbed.
Next, put it on a medium heat and stir gently. You will feel the mixture begin to thicken and also turn a little more transparent. (This is difficult to see from the pictures.)

 

A major difference between agar agar and gelatine is that you must heat agar agar to around 90 °C and boil for 2 minutes before it creates a decent gel. 

For our purposes we want to plasticise it - and for that we need to stir in glycerine. 

Not only does the glycerine act as a plasticiser, it also acts as a humectant, stopping the agar agar drying out. 

You could now leave the mixture to set. However, I would not recommend it. At this stage the agar agar will be very brittle. Put a little blob on the work surface or a plate and allow to cool - you will see what I mean. It is the weirdest thing - a 'crunchy' gel! If you sweeten it now you can use it for a jelly based desert. ​

​Once the glycerine is thoroughly mixed in, pour the hot mixture into your mold. Something with a very smooth, flat base (such as a baking tin or flat bottomed pyrex bowl) is ideal. This tray has a tiny plastic circle in the base, left from when it was molded, so isn't perfect, but I don't mind that much.




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After about ten minutes gently ease the set gel away from the edges of the container. It will not feel elastic the way gelatine does - but it does have a soft and slightly giving feel.
Then simply turn the container over and allow the gelli plate to fall out onto your hand.

Agar agar sets at room temperature within a few minutes and doesn't need to be put in the fridge at all.

Gelatine needs at least an hour or two to set in a cool place.
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Agar agar plates do seem to 'weep'. This is known as syneresis. If you can get hold of some Locust Bean Gum (also known as carob gum or E410) a small amount of this is said to stop the problem. I haven't been able to get any - so I am unable to comment. 

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So - what if you have the sachets of Vege-gel, the Carrageenan based gel?

As I can't get the Vege-gel I can only make some educated guesses, but it sounds promising doesn't it, as the locust bean gum is already in there - so hopefully no syneresis!  

So, this is what I would do.................

Make a small batch with just one packet of the gel using the following recipe as a starting point, and see how it turns out.

1 sachet of Vege-gel powder
200 ml water (approx 3/4 of a cup)
80 ml glycerine (1/3 of a cup)

Make it in the same way as the agar agar plate - making sure you do not add the salt. I can't find any evidence that salt will help - so start by leaving it out. Leave it to set and see what you get.

Use this as your starting point, and then tweak the recipe according to what you see. If the plate is too brittle, try remelting it and adding 50 to 100ml more water and see what happens. By remelting and making small changes you can tweak the recipe to see what works best, then make a bigger plate with your preferred combination of ingredients.

I would love to hear if anyone does try this - as you know, I am a big believer in sharing information - it can only benefit all of us!

​Carrageenan has an unusual reaction when mixed with locust bean gum - Kappa carrageenan ( a particular type of carrageenan) shows an unusual synergism with locust bean gum in aqueous gel mixtures. The interaction is marked by a considerable increase in the gel strength, an improvement in water binding capacity, a change in gel texture from brittle to elastic, and a reduction in the degree of syneresis (that is the expulsion of liquid that I am seeing with the agar agar gelli plate). I guess that is why Dr Oetker puts it in his little packets!

             And now for my new and improved gelatine based gel plate recipe..............

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Ingredients:
40 g gelatine powder (250 bloom)
100 ml warm water 
175 ml glycerine
160 ml Surgical spirit *
(also known as rubbing alcohol or isopropyl alcohol)

If you are unable to purchase isopropyl alcohol, you can substitute plain water. There is very little difference in my experience, but if I can get it I add the alcohol - maybe I am wasting my money!!

To make the gelatine plate, dissolve the gelatine powder in the water and stir well. Allow to sit for around ten minutes to make sure the gelatine absorbs the water fully. Next, put it into the microwave and zap for 30 seconds of so. BE CAREFUL - this mixture will be hot and WILL BURN YOU. Take it from the microwave and stir in the glycerine and surgical spirit (if using). Stir very well, then return to the microwave for a further minute of so. Keep your eye very carefully on the gelatine mixture. You do not want it to boil. If you do it will not gel properly. 

You are aiming for a clear, golden liquid which has the same consistency as runny honey.

Once it has reached this stage take it carefully from the microwave and pour it into your mold. Place on a flat surface and allow to cool before putting it into the fridge. It is likely to take at least an hour to set - maybe more. 

Once set, remove from the fridge and gently ease the edges of the gelli away from the container. It should feel bouncy and rubbery, and should not want to tear or rip. Turn the container upside down and ease the plate out onto your hand.
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​MORE INTERESTING STUFF

Gelatine is derived from collagen and is extracted from the skin, bones, and connective tissues of animals such as domesticated cattle, pigs and fish. It is an ingredient in many of the foods we regularly eat. By itself it is flavourless and colourless.

Also known as E441 on food ingredient labels.

Gelatine dissolves best in warm to hot water which is why synchronised swimmers use it to hold their hair in place whilst performing. The cold water does not dissolve the gel! 

The strength of gelatine is measured in a unit called BLOOM. The higher the number, the stronger the gel

Dr Oeker brand  has a rating of 250 bloom.
Knoxx has a rating of 225 bloom.

Sugar, milk and alcohol increase the strength of gelatine (which is why I add the alcohol)

Cut or rip the gel plate you wish to recycle into chunks. This helps speed up the melting process.

Put it into a microwave bowl and heat for around 1 to 2 minutes on full power (I have a 750W microwave). Keep your eye on it and give it a stir after a minute. If you need to add more time do it in short bursts and watch it at all times. You want the mixture to just bubble up but not over the edges.
If it spills over, don't wipe it up - just allow the hot gel to cool then peel it off and stir it back into your molten gel.

This is almost ready - it is beginning to bubble. Keep your eye on it though - it foams up quite quickly at this stage. 

Also - TAKE CARE - this is hot - at around 90 °C, so it will burn you.

Once ready take it out of the microwave and pour into a new mold. 

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UK



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​​Glycerine and gelatine from MM ingredients
http://mmingredients.co.uk/
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Glycerine BP (that means pharmaceutical grade) can a be bought more cheaply in chemists (such as Boots) than in supermarkets where you find edible grade glycerine. 

Isopropyl alcohol - also commonly known as 'surgical spirit' or rubbing alohol in the UK. Don't bother with Boots for this one - the thought police have been there and they just give you 'the look' when you ask for it. Last time I tried Superdrug still sell it.

​New Zealand

Glycerine and Isopropyl alcohol from Pure Nature
http://www.purenature.co.nz/
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Gelatine I buy at the supermarket

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I was at Midsomer Quilting last week, teaching my 'Doodle Birds' workshop (more on that later) and was given a present by De - a new product to try out. It is called 'Terial Magic', and I must admit, I had never heard of it until now.

Terial Magic is a slightly sticky liquid that comes in an easy to use spray bottle. According to the instructions it needs to be sprayed onto fabric and allowed to dry naturally for 15 or so minutes, and then ironed.

Once dry it is supposed to make the fabric stiff (like when you use starch) and non fraying. Stiff enough, it is claimed, that no further stabiliser is required for things like machine embroidery or 3D work.

Comparison with starch

Up to this point I was starting to wonder why I would use this product instead of starch. I do not often use starch on my fabric, but when I do I usually mix my own and apply it in the same way.

I applied the homemade spray starch to the fabric in the same way as I did the Terial Magic and left it to dry until just damp and  then ironed the fabric. It was slightly stiff, but nowhere near as stiff as with the Terial Magic.
To try and get a stiffer result I sprayed the fabric once again with the starch mixture, but this time I ironed it dry straight away. This made a big difference and the fabric now had very similar crispness and stiffness to the Terial Magic soaked fabric. 

There were, however, two things I noticed which were slightly different when using the starch.
1. Small flakey particles of starch came to the surface of the fabric, which easily scorched
2. The sole plate on my iron got covered in a thin film of starch, which also scorched. Not the end of the world, but it meant I had to clean the sole plate of my iron which is always a pain.

My spray starch recipe:

50ml tap water
200ml  hot water
1 to 3 teaspoons of cornflour

Mix the cornflour and the cold water to a smooth paste.
Add the hot water and whisk / shake until well mixed.
Pour into a spray bottle.

The green fabric stiffened with the Terrial Magic did not fray at all and was very easy to stitch. I was pleased to note that there was no resistance to the needle from the product in the fabric







To make a fair comparison I repeated the process with a piece of yellow fabric soaked in starch. It cut well and creased well, just the same as the Terial Magic soaked fabric. The only difference I noticed was that when I came to stitch the needle and thread were not at all easy to pass through the fabric. It was much more difficult and made hard work of a simple job.

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Last week I posted some pictures of several of the art journal slip on covers that use the fabrics I made whilst exploring and experimenting with different surface design techniques. 

Quite a few people got in touch with me to ask how I made the slip on covers, so I thought it would be a good idea to try and write a post to show you how I go about it. They are quite straightforward to make- so I hope my explanation doesn't make it seem too complicated.

1. Measure the book you wish to cover
In this example I measured a spiral bound sketchbook. It is important to make sure that you measure the thickness of the spine as well as the front and back cover - especially with a book like this that has a particularly fat spine.

Make sure you note down the measurements - as you need to add a bit to them in the next step.

2. Add a seam allowance
Take each measurement and add a generous quarter of an inch all around.

In this example the width of the front and back covers will become 9 inches,
the height of the front and back covers will become 12 and a quarter inches and the spine will become 1 and a half inches wide.

In my example I have pieced some fabrics pink and green fabrics to create the front and back covers. It would look equally good if you used a whole piece of fabric for each section - or even a whole piece of fabric for the whole cover. 

​3. Join the sections together
​Join the sections to create a whole piece which will wrap around  the whole book cover, with a little extra fabric (a quarter of an inch) on each edge.
Note:If you were using a whole piece of fabric you would already be at this step.

4. Make two tie closures
Either make two very thin strips from a co-ordinating fabric, or cut two pieces of tape or ribbon. These will be the ties that you use to keep the book closed. You can make them as long or short as you like -  long ones will wrap around the book before you tie them, short ones you can just knot or tie in a bow.
These two are about 8 inches and 10 inches long.

5. Cut 2 further pieces for the inner cover
​Next you need to  cut two pieces of co-ordinating fabric that are the same height as the front and back cover sections and  little narrower. Don't worry about the exact width. 

On each piece neaten one of the long sides by folding the fabric over and pressing and then folding it over again. Stitch down the neatened edge using a straight or decorative stitch. You should now have two rectangles, each with one neat long side and one raw edge. The short sides will both be raw. 

6. Add a pocket if you wish
​As an optional extra, you can stitch a pocket onto one or both of these rectangles. For your first attempt it might be worth skipping this stage until
you have seen how the finished cover turns out.

These pieces will eventually be on the inside of the book covers. If you want you could make a long, thin pocket to perhaps hold a pen or pencil.

7. Add a bit of quilting
​Go back to your front/back and spine piece. Quilt it all over as much or as little as you like. Just a few lines of stitching will be enough. I just like to go a bit mad.
Make sure you lay the finished piece with the right side up.

8. Attach the ties
​When you are happy with that, take the two thin strips and pin them, horizontally, onto the right side of the cover. Pin one one each of the short sides, roughly half way down.Make sure to let them overhang the short edge a little - about a quarter of an inch or so. 

9. Pin the inner cover pieces in place
​Next, still with the right side of the cover uppermost take the two smaller rectangles and pin the to either side of the cover. Match the raw edges to the edges of the cover and have the neatened edges facing inwards.

Pin them in place.

10. Add a final piece to cover the gap
​Look at that gap that is left in between the two pieces you have pinned in place - where you can still see the quilted cover fabric. You need to cut a piece of fabric that is about 3 inches wider than this gap. Leave all the edges raw - they wont be on show. 

11. Pin, pin, pin
Place this piece over the gap - roughly centrally so that it overlaps the other two pieces of fabric you pinned on earlier. Pin this in place too

12.Stitch all the way around
With a straight stitch, sew all the way around the whole piece with a scant quarter inch seam. When you come to the place where the thin strips are located on the short sides go over them a few times - reverse stitching to make sure the ties are firmly attached. 
Carefully clip the corners if you think it is bulky

​13. Start to turn it right side out
Nearly there!
Now start to turn the cover inside out. Start with the central rectangle. In this picture the rectangle of fabric has been turned to the back, revealing the cover once again.

14. Keep going
​Now turn one of the long rectangles on the side inside out. Use a pencil to poke out the corners.

15. Ta da!! Done!
​And finally turn the other rectangle inside out. Give the whole cover a good press and roll the seams so they lie flat. 

You are now looking at the inside of the book cover.

16. Slip your sketchbook into the cover
Now take the back cover of your sketchbook and slide it into the jacket. It might need a wiggle to get it to right up to the end and into the corners.

​Then do the same with the front cover.

17. Admire your work
​And then close up the journal and tie it closed. 

Done!

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So I took a look online to find some more, and I came across what looked like a bargain - so I bought some to try out. It is a new manufacturer of fabric medium for me. It is made by Berol and comes in a 1 or 5 litre bottle, with 1 litre costing £5 and £6 depending on where you buy it. I purchased mine from Yellow Moon as they were having a promotion and free shipping. It arrived the very next day, which was fabulous. 

I have used it over the weekend on a variety of samples and have found it to be of very good quality. It mixes well with all of the brands of paints I have tried so far and has been great for painting onto fabric with a brush, using with stencils and with hand carved stamp blocks. 

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It has been a long time since I started messing about with this new idea, but this weekend I decided to finish what I started several months ago. Before I left South Africa I started an experiment with soy milk , paint and sunshine - and what follows is how it turned out.

The process is pretty simple. All you do it mix the acrylic paint with soy milk until you get a milk-like consistency. You then  brush or sponge the mixture onto damp fabric (I used 100% cotton seed cloth) and cover part of the fabric with a mask. I used a mixture of things - metal letters, foam shapes and wooden die cuts, but you could use anything - natural items like leaves and grasses are very popular. You then leave the whole lot to dry in the sun. 

The way it works is this: the heat from the sun dries the uncovered fabric more quickly than that which is covered by the mask. This dry uncovered fabric then pulls the moisture out from under the mask (you may be familiar with the term 'wicking' it away) and at the same time takes the pigment from the paint with it. Thus, the paint and soy mix is physically drawn out from underneath the mask, leaving a whitish area the same shape as the mask. Clever eh?

This is exactly the same process as you would use if you used the Pebeo paints directly from the pot. The next part, however, is where the properties of the soy milk come in.

Note
It is not the UV from the sun that is important - just the heat. So, if you do not live in a very sunny place, just put your fabric under a heat lamp, taking care to ensure it cannot burn.

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