Love collecting pieces of rusty metal off the beach? Wonder what to do with them once home?! My eye has been drawn to fabric dyed with rust – somehow I started yet another Pinterest board! The patterns on rust fabric are beautiful.
I love the random nature of rust dyed fabric. It is hard to control the results but that is part of the fun. Different fabrics will react slightly differently, some may dye quicker than others.
These are my experiments (to date!)
How to dye fabric with rust
Collect a variety of objects with rust – your fabric will need to be touching rust for the colour to develop.
Soak your fabric in a ration of 50:50 vinegar and water.
Place rust fabric on top of fabric, alternatively wrap the objects in fabric.
The rust dye will take anywhere between a day and five days to develop.
Bright sunshine helps the rust develop.
Once dyed wash the fabric.
Rust fabric, creating patterns
Having experimented dying fabric with found rust objects I moved on to experiment with non rusty items. My thoughts were could I have more control over the results, create patterns?? I experimented with pins, staples and metal washers. Non of these objects had rust to start with. I pleated the fabric, adding the metal items to see if I could create specific patterns.
Initially the results looked unpromising but after two to three days I am delighted with the results.
- Dying with pins
- Dying with metal washers
- Dying with staples
These results were not as controlled as I anticipated but I still love them.
Naturally the next question is what to make with rust dyed fabric? I am thinking slow stitch could be beautiful – a piece of wall art? a rust fabric lampshade?
Interesting experiment, Vicky. Look forward to seeing where this takes you.
Pam @Threading My Way recently posted…Showcasing ~ How to Stencil with Freezer Paper ~ Tutorial
I never heard of this before! It looks so cool. Nicely done.
These are really interesting. Such a great idea. I look forward to seeing what develops from these experiments. It would be great to make a sampler quilt / hanging from the different rust dying methods.
#handmadeMonday
Caroline recently posted…Art Exhibition Adventures
What an interesting idea. Can’t wait to see what you do with the fabric.
Ginny recently posted…Yarn Bombing
I’ve stained fabric with pins by mistake but never on purpose!
What interesting results you are getting. Do you follow Agy from Green Issues? She has been doing some interesting experiments too.
I’m interested to see what you do with these pieces, I imagine them used for applique or embroidered over in some way maybe…
Julie recently posted…A Craftiosity Craft Kit Review, a Cork Passport Holder
Never thought of staining fabric with rust, done with tea and coffee before now but looks very effective.
Such an interesting idea. I can imagine it looking very effective when combined with embroidery. Looking forward to seeing what you make with them 🙂
Anna recently posted…Sewing a Tea Mat: A Pretty Way to Catch Tea Stains
So cool! I’ve got a Craft Gossip post scheduled for tomorrow afternoon that features your rust dying tutorial: http://sewing.craftgossip.com/?p=92632
–Anne
Anne recently posted…Inexpensive ideas for making drawstring cords
Wow Vicky this sounds so interesting and creative and that is what I love. All of the responses from these ladies I love their ideas also. Out on my deck I have a lot of things that rusted over the winter, one thing I have is a bowl of nails which has rusted, what I’ve done was pour out the water every time and used it for my plants. Now I will try to use it in a craft project. Love this will let you know if anything comes of this. Thanks for sharing.
LouAnn