Tuesday, January 3, 2012

A new tool!

Now that my sewing mojo is on its way back I have 'acquired' a few new tools to make life easier. I ordered a set of these Frixion marking pens (from The Thrifty Needle - great service, refunded my half of the postage cost) for Mum as part of her Christmas present. She had a friend bring her back one from the US earlier in the year and she had not stopped raving about how wonderful it was. We had not seen them here in Australia , although we hadn't really searched, so when they were advertised in an email from The Thrifty Needle I quickly ordered them. Of course if you are going to order one set you may as well order two!!! They are a smooth writing gel ink pen with a fine point which erase from fabric by ironing. I bought a set of blue, black and red. I used one for the first time last night and found it great to trace with. I haven't tested the removal of it yet but Mum assures me I will be happy with the result.
Has anyone else used these? and were you happy with them? and does anyone know where they are available to purchase in Australia?

9 comments:

Lorraine said...

Hi Lise...can't help with any of your questions.....sorry! Good that your sewing mojo is coming back....I didn't get any stitching done today but managed to pack up the Christmas decorations...everything looks so bare now! LOL

Sylvia said...

Hi Lise
You can get those pens at Coles! I got a surprise when I saw them there. I haven't used one yet but will give them a go. Some of my class ladies use them. I still like my pigma pen!

Little Penpen said...

I saw those being demonstrated at a recent quilt show. I didn't buy any, but thought the ironing and removal process was amazing. Someone posted somewhere that if you put the fabric in the freezer, the design will come back....but I don't plan on storing mine in the freezer, do you? ha ha

Beth said...

I heard the same thing that PenPen did about the lines coming back after freezing. As long as you keep that in mind, and , well, dont' store your quilts in the freezer, I think it will be fine!I will be interested in hearing how you like them. I was thinking of using them for redwork?

Peg - Happy In Quilting said...

I have them to use as well Lise...I keep forgetting about them thanks for the reminder.....

Cardygirl said...

Will look out for them.

Margaret said...

You will now see ladies in Coles eying off the pens, I plan to do just that tomorrow.

Sylvia said...

You can get them at Woolworths too. I checked Woolies out and bought one today!

Joy said...

Hi Lise, I love these pens too and have used them a lot. My advice though is to test them on a little scrap of fabric first as sometimes they can leave a feint white line when 'removed'. This is easy to fix though ... if you spray with water first and then press the ink disappears without leaving the white line. I've noticed this happens most with the black pen (not keen on that one, prefer blue or purple) and also on darker fabrics.
I love them for marking my quilting patterns - my quilting stencils have a whole new lease on life lol.
Hope this helps ...
Hugs,
Joy :o)