Happy Monday everyone. :) I'm working on a journal sketch/quilt right now.
I started with a piece of black, heavy weight jersey cotton, marked it with chalk and then loosely stitched the markings with some white thread. And then I pulled those same threads up tight and tied them off.
(You'll note that I decided not to stitch up the circled area after all.)
Once I pulled the thread tight I used a small-sized squeeze bottle to apply undiluted household bleach along the pulled areas, and sprinkled drops randomly over the blank area. I watched it carefully until it was approximately the colour I wanted (allowing for the darkness of the dampness) and then quickly, and very thoroughly, rinsed with cool water. If you try this at home, rinse it a LOT - if you don't rinse out all the bleach, it will keep discharging.
In the end, I had this.
I also did a few more along the same lines - one of which is the basis for my next piece. More on Wednesday...
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I love this effect! but could explain how you achieve this? is it just undiluted bleach? and do you wash it out/neutralise it in some way?
ReplyDeleteVery neat, Kit. When I saw the first photo, I thought you were heading toward sashiko...what a surprise! :-)
ReplyDeleteVery cool, Kit. I've been wanting to try discharging. Looking forward to seeing what you do with this!
ReplyDeleteA simple and hot treatment and a cool effect.
ReplyDeleteKit, I have used this method to discharge fabrics in the past and learned a few years back that only rinsing; regardless of how many times the bleach continues to work. According to Susan Stein in "Textile Art" and quite a few others that I've read you do need to use "Anti-Chlor, an inexpensive powder you mix with water, to neutralize chlorine products. There are also other products you can buy to do your final neutralizing also. It's like getting a perm and the hairdressser never neutralizes the chemicals in your head. Hope this helps. Wish I had know this when I first started this process a few years ago.
ReplyDeleteVery fun bleach technique. Yes, rinsing and more rinsing is definitely required. Looking forward to seeing more of this project.
ReplyDeleteHave a great day.
Always, Queenie
@Carol - I'll have to see where I can get some anti-chlor then! Thanks for the tip. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming by Queenie and for being such a faithful commenter!
You can buy Bleach Stop (Sodium Thiosulfate) very inexpensively from:
ReplyDeletewww.dharmatradingcompany.com
Have fun and be careful with the bleach.
Thanks Carol, I'm not in the States though so I'll have to find a local supplier. :)
ReplyDelete