Monday, January 10, 2011

Rusty Fabric

dying own fabric using rusty objects and onions skins
Over the weekend I started working on my submission for the annual juried Art Quilt Exhibition through 2QAQ  the entries are due beginning of February. While I was searching through my fabric stash and auditioning fabrics for the submission piece I came across the above two pieces of fabric that I have dyed  using rusty objects. I really enjoyed doing the above pieces and plan to dye a couple more and make up a quilt with them. Both pieces are using cotton fabric. The piece on the left had been getting used as a rag cleaning up acrylic paint, the rag was hand rinsed and then popped through the wash which removed most of the paint but left some behind which has added a little bit of interest and depth to the background.

The Rust Fabric Dying Recipe 
Natural Fibre (for me this is usually 100% cotton fabric), white vinegar and rusty objects.

Take one or several rusty items and wrap/sandwich the item into the chosen natural fibre. Place the wrapped item into a seal-able plastic bag and pour enough vinegar over until the item is completely covered. Seal the bag and place in the sun for a minimum of 48 hours (I usually loose track of time and they end up being in the sun for 1 or 2 weeks). Unwrap the fabric, remove the rusty items and rinse out the fabric, soak in a salted water solution for an hour or so and then rinse the fabric again.


2 comments:

  1. I love rusted fabric & have a big stash of it too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mel that is just great - so I'm about to get me some 100% and find a rusty object or three ... thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete

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