RUFFLED HEADBAND
Marbling is a great way to upcycle leftover fabrics, before turning them into beautiful accessories like this ruffled headband – a must-have for your wardrobe and ideal for elevating your outfit from day-to-day to something a bit more special! Plus it’s a super-simple sewing project, so a fabulous way to start off your sewing journey.
BESPOKE GIFT WRAP
Give this year’s Christmas presents a luxurious feel with handmade wrapping. You can even go one step further and create matching marbled gift tags and ribbons. Just imagine these marbled marvels piled high under the Christmas tree or stuffed into a stocking – those colours are a festive feast for the eyes!
MATERIALS
■ Water bath – a shallow tray to fit the object to be marbled comfortably. This will vary from project to project
■ Room-temperature distilled water
■ Scrap paper or newspaper to skim water and clean the excess inks away
■ 3–5 colours of pre-mixed marbling inks
■ Stylus – cocktail sticks (toothpicks) work perfectly here
■ Surface or object to marble onto
THE TECHNIQUES
WATER MARBLING WITH READY-MADE PRE-MIXED INKS
I have tried a range of these types of inks and my favourite is the Marabu Easy Marble ink, because you don’t need to make a size or pre-treat the water to allow the inks to float. As with all the water-marbling techniques you’ll begin by making your water bath with distilled water, then add droplets of ink into the bath before manipulating and submerging paper or fabric to print.
Experiment with the way you drop the inks into the water. Drop by drop works best, but as you grow in confidence feel
