Need help finding an article
Bridget_Landry | Posted in Feedback on Threads on
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There was an article in Threads magazine in 2000 (possibly 1999) on doing relief bleaching. That is, leaves and flowers were set on fabric, then the whole was sprayed with a bleach and water solution. This left a soft-edged bleached area with the relief pattern of whatever lay on the fabric in the middle. I’ve looked through all my back copies of Threads, but can’t find the article. (Some of them are missing, however.) I thought, if anyone remembered the article, it would be easier to find, or at the very least I could order another copy of that issue, if it’s lost.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Bridget
Replies
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Dear Brigit,
I can't speak for the later issues, but Issue #72 (September 1997) has an article titled "Dyeing with Bleach," by Lois Ericson that discusses that technique.
That article changed my life. Well, it changed my free time, anyway. It was a little craft project that got out of hand! I started by discharging designs from dark-colored tee shirts using objects placed on the fabric as the resists-- then I wondered if I could put other color in where I took color out, which led me to teach myself about fabric stenciling.
Quickly I found that I didn't like commercial stencils, so now I have a growing collection of stencils I have cut for subjects I like; mostly garden plants.
If you can't get issue #72, here's the basics of the how-to:
Work in a well ventilated area!
Wear old clothes.
Always use a freshly-opened bottle of household bleach. Clorine oxidizes quickly and old bleach can give disappointing results. Household bleach is cheap enough.
You need at least three large buckets for your rinsing and neutralizing processes.
For the discharging solution use bleach in a one to three or one to four ratio to water.
For the neutralizing solution use 1 gallon of white vinegar to three gallons of water (that is 1 to 3, but LOTS of it.)
Wear rubber gloves.
Use plastic or old fabric to mask any parts of the fabric you do not want discharged because your atomizer bottle will send droplets of bleach solution everywhere.
Wash all sizing out of your fabric before you start discharging.
OK, you're ready to start. You have some black all-natural fiber shirts or fabric, your workspace is covered in plastic, you have two five-gallon buckets full of water and one full of vinegar and water, and you've mixed up some bleach solution in a sprayer bottle.
Lay out the fabric and place the resists on the fabric. Gently mist with the bleach solution. The solution should sit on the top of the fabric but doesn't have to saturate it. Allow the solution to work on the fabric for eight to ten minutes, then carefully remove the resists so that they don't drip onto the design. Submerse the fabric in water, rinse well, then in the vinegar solution for a five to ten minute soak, then rinse again in fresh water.
Dry it, and see what you've got.
Good luck!
Tish Hall
*I sent an email asking for help finding a sweater knit on circular needles using scrap yarn. I had loaned out my copy of the magazine and it was not returned. I need the issue # or a copy of the pattern if available. I saw several answers to my email and asked for them to be sent to my email address. I have not seen them at all please help me with this. Thank you very much Joan
*Tish,Sorry for taking so long to get back to you, but thank you for your help! That was _exactly_ what I needed. I should be able to complete my project now.Thanks again!Bridget
*You're welcome. I'm sorry I misspelled your name. I was doing some research on Saint Brigid of Kildare and I must have just over-ridden what I saw with what was inthe backof my head. By the time I saw the mistake, it was too late to edit my post.Let me know how your project comes out!Tish
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