Dionne’s is well known for her development of the Devore technique and her talk was about this process which is believed to have begun in 17th century France – where the ladies wanted something that looked like lace but was not as expensive (known as ‘Fools Lace’).
Dionne’s PowerPoint presentation was backed up with excellent samples in fantastic colourways which she passed around for us to handle and these were much admired by members.
Dionne works with silk/viscose velvet – a traditional combination cloth where the viscose (a cellular/plant fibre) is destroyed by the Devore paste, which is painted onto the back of the cloth and thoroughly dried, then ironed to bake and activate the paste, and the silk (an animal fibre) remains.
After washing and drying she can then dye or print using silk screens or block printing.
Due to the commercial aspect of Dionne’s work she did not want us to take photographs so if you want to see samples – go to her excellent website - www.dionneswift.co.uk where you can not only look at her development into the Interior Design aspect of her work but you can purchase the specialist paste she makes herself and download instruction on how to go about the technique. Well worth a look.
Anyone attending the Fashion and Embroidery Show at the NEC next week - where she will have a stand, can see (and buy) samples of her work, the Devore Paste and more.
Ive attended one of Dionnes printing workshops and seen her at several shows. Her like her felted books best.
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