I tried out different meltable materials/fabrics to make these beads and started by "melting" the sides to keep them from unrolling. Care has to be taken to not put too much pressure on the fabric as the tip of the soldering iron would melt a hole right through the layers.
Of course this work has to be done in a well ventilated area. The fumes can cause headaches and are certainly not very healthy
Bead 1: I used some acrylic velvet for this one. However, the result is a bit disappointing, the dots can't be seen very clearly. This is certainly not my favourite fabric for this kind of exercise.
Bead 2: the fabric used here is a painted orange one. The lines are very crisp and the fabric melted beautifully
Bead 3: The orange "fabric" is painted Tyvek and the blue wrap is made of Lutradur. Both materials produce very interesting effects
Bead 4 : layers of nylon organza were wrapped and held in place with a fine copper wire. The incised line can't be seen very clearly on this picture.
Bead 5 is made of acrylic felt. This material melts very well, the lines (in this case crosses) are not very clear. This might be because of the fact that the painting of the felt is irregular. To achieve a better result I will probably have to find another way of colouring it, maybe by using transfer dyes or bonding nylon organza to it.
Bead 6: The materials used here are blue Lutradur wrapped with orange Tyvek.
Bead 7 is made of painted Lutradur.
I think that some of the beads could be rubbed with paint after the melting process. This would make the melted lines more obvious.
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