Friday 30 March 2007

Rusted fabric

Some men bring their wives chocolates and flowers, mine brings me rusty pots.

rust

And this is what I do with them:
Mix a solution of water and a good dash of vinegar, soak fabric.

For this first lot I used cotton and thin muslin, but have another lot rusting now with taffeta, sheers and organza, just to see what it does.

Lay the wet fabric on the rusty surface, don't flatten out, leave it a bit scrunched.
Cover with a plastic bag and leave.

How long to leave I think may depend on how rusted the iron is. I have a friend who made some and left hers for several days.

My pieces happened overnight, the vinegar may have accelerated the process or I just might have had more rust to start with.

This was my rusted cast iron cook pot, I wrapped the fabric around the pot, the fabric was solid brown on the base where the pot rested, then very little on the sides where it wasn't hard against it, then a bit on the ends that I tucked into the inside of pot

rusted fabric


This next was a piece of flat sheet iron, it worked well as you can see from the second photo:

rusted fabric
rusted fabric

We also had a couple of old chair bases sitting around the yard, I used the metal tops where the seat cushion is normally attached:

rusted fabric
rusted fabric

Next was some old rusted chains:

rusted fabric
rusted fabric

this is the piece from the chains:

rusted fabric

I was very happy with my clothes line full of rusty fabric and will be making more. I think it could be really great in an art quilt/

rusted fabric

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8 comments:

Dianne said...

Hi Erica, I haven't visited your blog for a while, but I'm so glad to be back!! Love your rusted fabrics, and that one you made on the stool is my favourite - what a great pattern!

Anonymous said...

wow, that is totally fantastic!

Liz Plummer said...

What a well-trained husband! Wish mine would do that sort of thing ... but fortunately I have kids who leave stuff out in the garden and nature does its work... Those pots are a work of art in themselves!

Gorgeous results...

Jan Allsopp said...

Erica this is my first time here at your blog (thanks for visiting mine!) and its a great blog. Thanks for this rusty cloth post. I might have to try this. I'll have to come back with more time to check out our past posts.
Jan

Spike said...

Fascinating and cool.

Erica said...

thanks all
Di, nice to see you back
Liz, it's taken a few years to train him :)
Jan, thanks for visiting, I am working my way through your inspiring blog, love all your books
Spike! thanks :)

Judy Scott said...

Hi Erica thanks for the link here, what amazing results you had ~ I'm going to have a go today!! What wonderful husbands we have ~ much better to have old treasures (not the husbands ha!!!) than choclates :)

Anonymous said...

I don't have a husband. Actually I don't have a wife anymore either. :)
Just looks like you had so much fun, with this particular fabric.
Just goes to prove it doesn't need to be the riches silk. :)

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