Dot Ikat Flip Flop: An experiment in Reverse Fabric Painting.

I recently scored this vintage wire 'sofa' for a song on Craigslist, but it didn't come with any cushions. so I scouted around my house, rearranged some stuff and came up with a cushion for the seat. I always have extra throw pillows around, so that was no problem, but now I needed to make a slipcover for the seat cushion.

I didn't want to spend any money on this project, so I used what I already had on hand. And what I had was a bolt of a beautiful, purple, linen-cotton-poly blend, heavy weight fabric I scored at Hancock for around $3 a yard on a major, major clearance sale. I love the shot of color here, but it just looked too plain to me, somehow. It seemed like some kind of pattern was necessary. Well I have approx. 12 yards of this fabric, so decided I could spare some for an experiment.

You've all seen the reverse 'dye' technique of using bleach on dark colored fabric to remove the color....kind of like reverse tie-dyeing...I thought it might look kind of cool here, so I tested a piece to see how the color would 'lift' from this fabric. If you are thinking of doing this, I definitely recommend doing a test swatch first. Many fabrics, especially black and navy blue and most dark colors have really unexpected 'lift' results. I half expected this purple to lift to very orange, but was pleasantly surprised when it turned a really pretty pinky pale purply hue....say that three times fast!

I decided on a pattern and just started painting. 

A little while later.....

A fun, playful pattern!  I was happy with the result, but since the cushion is two sided, why not try something else on the other side, right? Having 12 yards of this fabric gave me the confidence of knowing if I messed up, I would have plenty left to start over.

I've been loving all the Ikat prints that are so popular right now, so decided to try simulating one.

Really easy to do, just back and forth brush strokes of varying widths. I found quick, loose strokes worked best for the look I was going for.

I really love how this turned out, too!! Problem is, now I can't decide which one I like better! I think for that room, the Ikat one works better with the other patterns that are in there, but then I like the softness the circular print adds to all the angles....but then.....hahaha! I just can't decide! Good thing I don't have to. Since it's two sided, I can flip the cushion whenever I feel like it!

DOTS

or

IKAT

What I learned:

Definitely do a test swatch to see if your fabric 'lifts' to a desirable color.

Use natural bristle brushes to paint on the bleach...synthetic bristles will get ruined by the bleach. I learned the hard way after ruining two really good brushes!

Make sure to wash your fabric after bleach painting. Let the bleach stay on the fabric for at least 45 minutes to get the max lift, then run it through a wash cycle to remove all traces of the bleach from your fabric.

So tell me, which one do YOU like better? Let me know! 

As always, thanks for stopping by today! See you next time.

Does True Love Exist?

Many times while shopping for clothing for my daughter, I become envious of the cute styles and colors and have frequently lamented "Why doesn't this come in grown up sizes?!" The girl has a pretty rockin' wardrobe all in all, but my absolute favorite has to be this T-Shirt:

Like I said, I admire many pieces of clothing in her closet, but something about this T just really captured my eye. I love how it's a little bit Rock-N-Roll and a little bit Princess; Throw in some sparkly studs and I'm sold!

So when she grew out of this and couldn't wear it anymore, I couldn't bear to let it go. I just kept it in her drawer and there it sat...and sat....and sat. I decided to find something useful to do with it, but what to do with a size 6 girls T shirt?  I had seen some people make pillows out of old t-shirts, but usually in grown up sizes so there was plenty of material to work with. This shirt wasn't big enough for a whole pillow. Hmmmm.....but maybe it could become *part* of a pillow? Yes! I decided that's what I would do.

I looked in my fabric remnants and thought these two would work with each other and with the colors on the T-Shirt. I didn't have enough of either one to make a whole pillow front and back and I like the way they juxtapose each other; Playful zebra stripes and a classic brocade, just like the t-shirt: rock-n-roll meets princess! Actually, I didn't even have enough of the brocade to make an 18" width, so I had to seam two pieces together.

I decided to use this for the front, since my plan was to cut out the front portion of the T-Shirt with the design on it and stitch it to the fabric that would form the pillow. So, most of the seam would be covered anyway, and it doesn't even bother me that the pattern doesn't match up.

It was difficult, but for a better cause, so I cut the design portion of the T into a 'square'....sorta.

 All pinned and ready to stitch on. At first I tried to turn the edge under for a clean look, but that was easier said than done and so I opted for a raw edge on the T_Shirt fabric.

Sewn on and a little bit crooked, but nothing a little trim won't fix! I used the zebra print for the back and did a really simple envelope closure.

And here is the *almost* finished pillow. I plan to add some loopy fringe trim to the edge of the pink. Maybe something like this?

Or if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!

As to the question of whether true love exists, I can only say it's different for everyone, but I do truly love this pillow and it reminds me of my daughter every time I look at it.....and that is true love indeed!

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Super Duper Wicker Re-Do Deux

So, last week I teased you guys with a wicker re-do reveal, but to build suspense, I left you with a cliffhanger! Well at long last here is the reveal! But first I want you to say "Super Duper Wicker Ro-Do Reveal Deux" five times fast! Haha...okay enough funny business, on to real business. You remember the photos I showed you last week here? Sure you do! But here is a re-cap anyway....

Give me your old, your shabby, your sunburned wicker and I'll give you.......

............a  beautiful transformation that gives a worn out old wicker couch a new lease on life!

I printed the fabric myself which I will tell you about later, but for now just wanted to show the amazing difference some paint and coordinated fabric can make. I know we've all seen it a hundred times but it never fails to amaze, inspire and transform. The power of paint!

Here you can see the wire mesh, called Stucco Corner, I used to wrap the bottom edge of the couch and contain all the loose and fraying edge pieces. It acts like a 'bumper' and keeps any further damage at bay.

 And remember I told you I found this couch with two matching end tables? The tables were in near perfect condition and didn't need anything other than a coat of paint to match the couch.

BEFORE

AFTER

The tables had glass tops with a recess beneath the glass, presumably to put decorative items inside, under the glass. I had JUST SO HAPPENED to find two identical frames the same day I found the wicker set and they JUST SO HAPPENED to fit exactly inside the table lip, underneath the glass. I did not plan this, nor did it occur to me when I found the frames (at a completely separate location than the couch and tables) The tables just looked like something was missing when I finished painting them and the glass was placed. I looked around the garage and my eyes fell on those frames, among the pile of treasures I had rescued from the trash that day. I tried it, it worked. They added the perfect extra 'something' the tables needed to finish them off. I know some of you might be doubting that one could be so lucky, but I swear it's true!

My daughter put some of her artwork under the glass and I love it!

Cost to me? $24 for a gallon of paint (and I used the WHOLE gallon, painting wicker uses a lot of paint!) about $7 for 20' of Stucco Corner and less than $20 for the fabric on the cushion covers. All the rest was free and, at least for now, out of the landfill. I'd say a pretty good days work for a look like this........

And a big thanks to my friend Lora for the use of her home to stage these photos. Thanks Lora, you're awesome!

Thanks for visiting!

 

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Textiles and Technology

I was recently complimented on the header here on the home page, and asked how I did it.  Well, I'm sure many people out there have done this too: I scanned a beloved piece of threadbare fabric I've had for years. It originally looked like this

It is one of my very favorite motifs, and in any graphics program you can tweak the color scheme to whatever combination you can imagine.  For the header, I did a grey on grey scheme, but bright colors would be awesome too!

Can't you just see this on a Louis XVI chair?

Super feminine boudoir

Sweet in a baby's room

Super Mid Century

Classic Black and White

Multi Cultural Color

 As you can see, the possibilities are endless!  This is but one example of a scanned fabric....I have done dozens of patterns over the years.  Find one you love and change it up with scaling the pattern bigger or smaller and swapping colors.  You'll love the results.  Happy Scanning!

Edit: If you're reading this now, you probably noticed the header has changed. I like to switch things up every once in a while!