Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Ugly fabric challenge, Part 2

After letting the fabric batch for about 6 hours, I rinsed it in cold water to get the soda ash out. Then I washed it in several warm water baths and a hot water bath (140 degrees). I tossed it into the dryer and ironed it.

Here is the result.. not bad.
Might make a good background for a small piece or I will just cut it up.

I would say this is a success.

Ugly fabric challenge

I am trying to get back into a creative mode with my still limited mobility. My foot is healing nicely but I cannot stand on it for too long or it swells up.

I did an ugly fabric challenge a few years ago and it was fun. I came up with some ideas of treatments I could do that would not aggravate my foot and I could do in increments. This is the fabric I was sent.. not so ugly.
I decided to bleach out some of the color then ice dye. I did this outside so I wouldn't have to use a vapor mask which is a must if you are inside plus good ventilation. To remove the color I used a Clorox Bleach pen.


When I liked how much color had leached out I rinsed the piece in cold water to remove the bleach and then into a solution of Anti-Chlor  which stops the bleaching process. You can get the bleach pen at any supermarket. I bought my anti-chlor from ProChem but Dharma sells something similar called Bleach Stop. I mixed 1/2 teaspoon into a gallon of warm water. The stuff really stinks and is caustic if inhaled. I also used rubber gloves.


When done I soaked the fabric in soda ash then folded it up and put it in a plastic container.
I added a bunch of ice cubes.
I put my mask on and sprinkled dye powder over it and put it in the sun the batch.
I used Chartreuse, Intense Blue, and Grape.

To be continued........