Experimenting Part II

  • Posted in: Plume
  • on May 11, 2010

 There is almost nothing better than working really really hard on something and then spending a weekend seeing what happens when you systematically destroy it in your washing machine. Of course, this is only satisfying when you have a couple hundred yards of it safely shelved and covered in plastic.

feathercolordrain.jpg neptune_colordrain.jpg

I have been doing a little more experimenting and thought I might share the results with you. A friend of mine, Lauren,  bleached some fabric for our Guild project and I was totally into it. I tried using bleach and I also tried using RIT color remover. I applied each method to Neptune and Plume. I used my washing machine and followed the instructions on the box.

BLEACH- I added 2 cups of bleach to a regular cycle on my washing machine in hot water.  The bleach lightened everything, duh, but also took colors out completely. Aqua seemed to be the weakest color against the bleach and faded first. Aqua turned to gray, navy turned to brown, coral to a peachy brown, green to yellow, brown to gold/mustard.

COLOR REMOVER- This was really cool. The printed navy went to black, dyed navy went rust colored, aqua turned to a beige color and everything else went gold! Except the brown which pretty much held where it was printed, but the dyed brown portions went gray-ish. Awesome.

plume_colordrain.jpg

I’m sort of afraid to wash my clothes now.

44 Responses to “Experimenting Part II”

  1. There are hearts breaking all over the quilting world at the sight of the Neptune :) That is a really interesting experiment though.

  2. totally totally cool! i love that the range of lights and darks remained intact, but with completely new hues. the color remover row is such a surprise. thanks for sharing these coolio results from your fab lab. :)

  3. wow – that is seriously SO cool ….. I don’t know if I would have the guts to do it, but I love how the neptune responded to the color remover – that would allow it to match the color scheme I’m going with in my bedroom (blues & browns) it’s like an entirely new fabric line….

    thank you for posting the comparison pictures!

  4. That is really cool!!! I love how the plume turned out with the color remover and how neptune looks bleached.

  5. How fun to see a whole new “collection”… :) Am I brave enough to do this? Not sure but I do love the look! :)

  6. I LOVE the bleached Neptune!!

  7. That’s interesting. Now how can we figure out what the treatments do to the life of the fabric?

  8. that is awesome…I would buy those.

  9. That is really interesting! Gives me ideas for what to do with my no-longer-favorite fabrics. ;-) Thanks!

  10. that is so awesome! I love some of the “new” fabrics. I don’t blame you for being afraid to wash your clothes now! maybe run an empty cycle with vinegar in the washer?

  11. oh – I LOVE how the fabric changed!! so pretty! I recommend washing some of those old clothes that you plan on using for rags/cleaning towels with some salt and vinegar.

  12. I love seeing how color changes when you mess with it. Really interesting post.

  13. this is really cool! I wanna experiment now!

  14. Absolutely love the color remover version! I don’t know if I’d ever be brave enough to try it on my own, but it is fabulous!

  15. Very interesting. I still like Plume in the original colors, but the others have some fun variations that I could see working with.

    SewCalGal
    http://www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

  16. I love love love this! I’ve been waiting for the right time to experiment with the bleach and overdye processes on fun quilt-weight cottons. I haven’t played with fabric like that since college.

  17. I like the bleached Neptune – especially the green prints turning goldish!

  18. Hi!
    I love that you did this. I’m big into dying and discharging fabric myself.

    Please note that when you bleach quilting fabric, you need to “stop” the bleaching process using anti-chlor or bleach stop (available from dye stores like Dharma Trading or Pro Chem.) If you don’t stop it, the bleach will continue to work on your fabric, weakening it. Simple washing isn’t adequate.

    Awesome results!
    Rossie

  19. I love the color remover version of neptune so much, it’s like seaside autumn!

  20. I really like the color remover versions. Any idea how the fabric will wear in a quilt? Does it make it any less sturdy? Fun experiment none the less.

  21. LOL … who would have thunk it without seeing it. I’ll have to try it!

  22. fascinating!! thank you for posting such great before and after shots.

  23. I really like the colourway that came from the rit!
    I would run vinegar twice through my washer before washing anything important :)

  24. Cool experiment!

    I agree with Kelly O…vinegar into the washing machine!

  25. Thats way cool! Thanks for posting these! Good luck with your clothes!!!

  26. Wow! The neptune turned out so cool! I like the colour of the feathers of 2 cups bleach. Looks like old men uses lots of remover… Very interesting experiment indeed, you should make a quilt of it all.

  27. That is one of the single most fascinating things that I’ve seen!!! I don’t know that I would be game to do it myself!! (but then again, with the luxury of lots and lots and lots of yards of fabric, the landsape changes a little!)

  28. AGGGGH MUSTARD NEPTUNE KILLING MEEEEEEEE

    Really, really wonderful stuff! Thanks.

  29. Oh man…does Julie (JaybirdQuilts) know you bleached Neptune!? You better hide! LOL!

    A very interesting experiment though. I don’t think I’d ever have the courage to bleach my fabric. :)

  30. Very, very cool experiment. I think that a quilt with all the bleached and unbleached Neptune charm squares would be awesome !!! I have a few pieces of fabric I’m not excited by, maybe bleaching would be good for them.

  31. I think this is pretty awesome! It would be so fun to mix the original colourway and the bleached/dye removed colourway together into a quilt. Do you just add he bleach directly to the washing water, or do you mix it with detergent first?

    BTW, I think Julie (Jaybird) might have a heart attack when she sees what you did to her beloved Neptune, teehee!

  32. Wow, the color remover has an awesome effect! I want some color-removed anchors now :)

  33. That is fascinating! I really like all of the “new” colors that it made. The designs really hold out well in any colors.

  34. What a cool experiment! I’ve never tried bleach or remover on fabric, so it’s fun to see the new fabrics you created. I especially love the new colors from the bleach.

  35. Wow — Great experiment. Luckily it was an experiment and not a full quilt. I like some of the bleached fabrics though — the colors are really neat! I would also be afraid to wash my clothes too!

  36. As Pam & Becky L. posted before me, I too would be interested to know how bleaching and colour removing have impacted the integrity of the fabric itself.
    My only experience with bleach was with a white blouse (100% cotton) that I stained the first day I wore it. I bleached it and the stain was removed to the detriment of the fabric itself. In fact, I had “burnt” the material and the blouse never saw its 3rd wash. That was 30 years ago and I have not bought bleach since! Are new 100% cotton fabrics made that differently these days?
    Thank you so much for sharing your creative experiments, good and not so good. This is what differentiates your blogs from most and keeps me a regular reader of your blog! Merci.

  37. Wow that is so neat to see! I have never used the RIT color remover, but may have to try it! Thanks for sharing your results with us!

  38. Great idea! What about dying the bleached fabric with another (light) color? I´ve seen really interesting results of such experiments in a back number of a journal…

  39. I love seeing the differences in what you used. I like all of the new looks. I had never seen what color remover does but it’s most interesting. I think all the experiment fabrics would make a great giveaway *hint**hint*.

  40. I actually have a quilt that I am going to use Rit color remover on it when I finish quilting it this week. The “Old Green Cupboard” from Jacksonville, FL had a quilt in Nashville a few years ago that they had use the color remover on. It looked like a old antique quilt. Can’t wait to see how mine turns out.

  41. Are you f*&(ing kidding me? Yes, I would LOVE to mess with my Neptune stash and my Plume stash – except for the fact that my customers are pestering me EVERY SECOND to part with even a tiny piece. And I can’t get anymore. So the only acceptable solution is that you send me a 1/2 yd of every single color-removed, bleached fabric. Please. I’m being nice.

  42. wow that is just cool! What an amacing colour change!

  43. this is so cool. i have a couple plume layer cakes and one of them might get this treatment, all in the name of science. so cool! thanks for posting!

  44. This is really cool, and to add another dimension to this, you should try ”itajime” – where you clamp shapes to the material on both sides and THEN dye (or bleach) the fabric! You can make what looks like appliqued quilts w/o the applique!

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