Painting the Sparklets

Radio Record, Volume II, Issue 29, 1 February 1929, Page 12

Painting the Sparklets

Rens "anes To convert the plainest little evening frock into something which has Paris written all over it is a task calling only for the decorative colour sense with which most women are gifted, and a few materials that will cost not more than five shillings or so. It was the Parisiennes who invented the art of decorating evening frocks in diamante which, in effect, is a design in flat tints outlined with a sparkling metallic powder. Sprays cf flowers and foliage are the most suitable, but stencil patterns can also be used with good effect. Any art dealer will supply the material; some soft stable brushes, a tube of the proper paste with fine and coarse nozzles, some gold bronze powder, and a selection of colours. For very rich effects, add silver metallic flakes and some red and blue metallic powders, Painting the Design. Then get a perfectly plain evening frock, or maybe a filmy scarf, of georgatte, thin silk or crepe de chine. Hav-

ing selected your design, draw ft lightly on the fabric with a soft pencil, or better still, on a sheet of paper, and pin the fabric over it. Now go over the outline of the design with the paste, using a fine or a eoarse nozzle, according to the effect desired. When the outline is compleied, with a brush cover the paste with one of the metallic powders which will stick to the paste and make the sparkle. Allow the paste to dry thoroughly before proceeding to the next stage. that of filling in the outlines with appropriate tints; a wide range of tints is available. and others can be imade by mixing the colours in a saucer. Paint the design with a fine brush. keeping the tints flat; don’t try to do anything in the way of shading, When the first wash of colour is perfectly dry other colours can be painted over it to represent the eharacteristic markings on leaves and flowers, but, generally speaking, the broader the design is kept the more effective it is.