What does one do with a 2-week staycation? Work on projects, of course!
Since the significant other and I will be on the road at points this summer and are in need of a new picnic blanket, I decided to set the other project aside for a while. This new project has the added benefit of opening up some storage space in my fabric totes, as I'm using jeans... lots of worn-out jeans that I've collected over the years (and which take up quite a bit of space). My goal is to buy nothing new for the project, so old jeans are a good place to start.
After looking at various jeans quilts online, I decided I'd keep it simple and start by cutting squares. It took a bit of time and juggling of jeans, but I finally cut (and/or pieced together) 64 squares, 9.5" per side. When they were laid out on the carpet, they were looking good, but also a bit plain in spots.
The sun broke through the smoke haze yesterday, so I took advantage of the shining rays and did a bit of sun printing on some jeans squares that were looking pretty grungy. I used some Pebeo Setacolor paints that were kicking around my studio, keeping to the blue theme of the jeans:
I also did some discharge dyeing with bleach on other plain and stained squares:
Although I rinsed the discharged fabrics with lots of water and soaked them with baking soda to neutralize the bleach, the squares were still pretty smelly this morning. After a quick look online (http://www.wikihow.com/Neutralize-Bleach) and a trip to the store (so much for not buying anything), they had another soak, this time in a diluted hydrogen peroxide solution, followed by crushed vitamin C tablets. They're smelling a bit better now and I feel less like they will continue to disintegrate over time with leftover bleaching chemicals attached to the fabric. If I do this again, I think I'll plan ahead and get some discharge paste/decolourant, as it is less damaging (to me, the environment and the fabric) than household bleach.
I found and cut some fun fabric for the backing this morning and cut batting to size this afternoon, so am ready to start sewing everything together the next time I'm in the studio.
For now, though, it is time to stretch the limbs, weed the garden and enjoy a cup of tea in the sun. Our house is nice and cool, so it is sometimes easy to forget that it is summer out there!
Since the significant other and I will be on the road at points this summer and are in need of a new picnic blanket, I decided to set the other project aside for a while. This new project has the added benefit of opening up some storage space in my fabric totes, as I'm using jeans... lots of worn-out jeans that I've collected over the years (and which take up quite a bit of space). My goal is to buy nothing new for the project, so old jeans are a good place to start.
After looking at various jeans quilts online, I decided I'd keep it simple and start by cutting squares. It took a bit of time and juggling of jeans, but I finally cut (and/or pieced together) 64 squares, 9.5" per side. When they were laid out on the carpet, they were looking good, but also a bit plain in spots.
The sun broke through the smoke haze yesterday, so I took advantage of the shining rays and did a bit of sun printing on some jeans squares that were looking pretty grungy. I used some Pebeo Setacolor paints that were kicking around my studio, keeping to the blue theme of the jeans:
I also did some discharge dyeing with bleach on other plain and stained squares:
Although I rinsed the discharged fabrics with lots of water and soaked them with baking soda to neutralize the bleach, the squares were still pretty smelly this morning. After a quick look online (http://www.wikihow.com/Neutralize-Bleach) and a trip to the store (so much for not buying anything), they had another soak, this time in a diluted hydrogen peroxide solution, followed by crushed vitamin C tablets. They're smelling a bit better now and I feel less like they will continue to disintegrate over time with leftover bleaching chemicals attached to the fabric. If I do this again, I think I'll plan ahead and get some discharge paste/decolourant, as it is less damaging (to me, the environment and the fabric) than household bleach.
I found and cut some fun fabric for the backing this morning and cut batting to size this afternoon, so am ready to start sewing everything together the next time I'm in the studio.
For now, though, it is time to stretch the limbs, weed the garden and enjoy a cup of tea in the sun. Our house is nice and cool, so it is sometimes easy to forget that it is summer out there!
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