I could have given daily updates

I visit a lot of blogs, although lately I simply haven't had that luxury. A couple blogs I visit provide daily updates of whatever they (the artists) are working on at that time. It's a good way for people to know specific steps in a technique and it keeps the daily updates brief. However, if you are like me, you wait until the technique has been completed, then show it from the beginning. That's why I seldom offer daily updates on my art.


Over the course of four days, I rusted some fabric. I laid out a piece of muslin that had NOT been pre-washed or treated in any way. With all the sizing still in the muslin, I wanted to see how that would affect the final outcome.


I grabbed a bunch of rusty can lids and laid out three in a row. I flipped the fabric onto itself, creating a fabric, rusty lid, then fabric sandwich, and laid three more lids in the next layer. I kept doing this until I ran out of fabric, at which point I folded the fabric in thirds. Please note the one glove I removed to take the photo. I can't state this often enough: don't let rust get on your skin or in your blood. PERIOD!


Now it was time to capture all that rust onto the fabric. I soaked the dry and previously unwashed fabric in vinegar water, then placed it in a plastic bag.


The green from the bag indicates the Dollar Tree insignia. You can also see the saturated fabric through the plastic bag. It is now ready to sit in the Kansas heat for several days.


Once the fabric was unwrapped (again protecting my hands with gloves), I rinsed it three times in baking soda water. When the fabric was dry, it was safe to handle. I suggest if you conduct an internet search for rusting fabric and the information does NOT include wearing protective gloves, that you follow the tutorial with the precautions I have laid out every time I rust fabric or fibers.


What I love about this fabric is some of it stayed completely white, unaffected by the rusting. I believe those white areas are prevalent because I didn't pre-wash the fabric and didn't wet it before I added the rusty lids. Any fabric not protected from, or covered by, the rust took on a beige-y color. I am now anxious to turn this fabric into an art quiltlet or two. Look for more rust dyeing in the near future, too.