DISMANTLE WHARF

By popular demand (of two) this is how we bleach-dye t-shirts!

You need:

- t-shirt
- bucket
- bleach
- rubber bands
- ideally, nitrile gloves (I skipped this and after bleaching about 50 shirts I chemically burned off my fingerprints, no joke!)

Make a solution of one part bleach, one part water in the bucket. Just enough so that you can dunk a t-shirt into the liquid. You can experiment with different concentrations—the more bleach, the more quickly it will act on the fabric. I also keep a little squirt bottle of 100% bleach on hand to add some brighter accents in a sort of improvisatory manner.

Some people like to wet the fabric before bleaching it—this makes the bleach seep into the fabric in a more subtle blobby way. If you start with dry fabric you’ll get some cleaner lines. Both are cool IMO.

The secret to this craft is all in the folding of the shirt. As with normal tie-dye (you can think of bleach-dying as “reverse tie-dye“) you’re trying to protect some parts of the fabric from the bleach and expose others. We have a few different folds we like to do.

- accordion fold: take the shirt and carefully fold it over itself in strips like an accordion or a fan. I like to do this on a diagonal so it’s a bit more unexpected. Then take the folded shirt, which should look like a long accordion strip, and roll it into a donut. Secure with rubber bands.

- classic spiral tie-dye: place the shirt face-down on a table. Place the tines of a fork wherever you want the center of the spiral to be and twist slowly, holding the handle of the fork and keeping the shirt as flat as you can. Gather this spiral of fabric into a donut and secure with rubber bands.

- what I call “bleach teat”: pinch a bit of fabric, less than an inch, and secure it with a rubber band. Then keep securing with rubber bands every inch or so until you have a long “teat” of fabric. Do this in a few different places (maybe three) around the shirt.

There are a lot of other folding techniques, and you can also mix and match. You can just scrunch your fabric at random and rubber-band it until your shirt is a wrinkled ball. Look up Japanese shibori folding styles & adapt.

Dunk your fabric donut or ball (or just the teats) into the bleach solution. Make sure it’s fully saturated. Pull it out and let it do its thing for 5-10 minutes. Make sure all the fabric is exposed to light & air, so flip the donut over every once in a while. Keep an eye out. If you leave the bleach on too long it will start to eat away at the fabric. Remove the rubber bands and assess the situation. Best to do this outside in the sun. Rinse with cold water until the water runs clear and then hang to dry. That’s it!!!

Thank you!!!

This rules, thank you

Update: my fingerprints grew back

I want to hear about people's weirdo quarantine crafts! I can't be the only one tie-dying in my backyard.

I am doing gross experiments in growing black mold (or any kind really) on fabric. Pretty stoked.

???

Tell me more! Why?

Moldy fabric sounds gross and beautiful, would like to see it!

Not much crafting here, most energy has gone to removing walls in my small house and finally learning to play Bach. I made it three months into quarantine before I had to demo something in the house, I was surprised to last that long.

I tie-dye 3-5 t-shirts a day. Nobody wants them, but I can't stop.

Just inspired me to crack open my plastic box of torn damp white sheet to check for mold growth. It's a-growin'!
My goal is to permanently stain fabric with mold (ideally, that fabric has been impregnated with some bodily bacteria, either by towelling off with it or sleeping on it...) then sew it up into beautiful hand crafted garments like kimonos for swanning or button-up shirts. I think I will need to find a more efficient mold harvesting technique than my closet box though. I wish I could bury fabric in hole... Need to try with some different materials.

I lost one of my favorite t-shirts about 10 years ago (it was my Golden Age x Lando t-shirt, [mention]w0lf[/mention]!) to a freaky rust-colored mold/mildew that appeared overnight when I left it on the floor of my bathroom and wouldn't come out with washing. I must admit I'm pretty scared of mold after helping gut a house in New Orleans post-Katrina so I was perhaps too quick to put it in the dumpster.

Nah man, mold is gross and your reaction was spot on. It is precisely because of wanting to wretch and throw it away that I also wanna make beautiful work- and swan-wear with it! Push or pull?!

yeah Molly how do you know your fabric mold isn't hella toxic?

Finally made a craft this year... Jacquard discharge paste and a $12 sweatsuit. Ready to lounge and eat popcorn on halloween, hahaha.


or do this dance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOGhAV-84iI

How did you do it??

Jacquard discharge paste is the stuff I used to make scarves years ago. It's a stinky white gloop that you paint on to fabric. When it dries you iron it and the color lifts. It smells awful and is a slow process, but it doesn't damage fabric as much as bleach does, which is nice. I had a huge jug lying around in the basement and a friend wanted to do homemade skeleton costumes so we got to work.

Maybe I should make more scarves and work my way through the jug of discharge paste.

Wow, you did an excellent job drawing the skeleton. Wtf, are you some kinda artist?!?!

ahhh sheeeesh : ) [mention]meadows[/mention]

I put the sweatsuit on and marked up where my real bones were!

If I did that.. it would not look like this. Bones would be mutated, lumpen, crooked. Although, maybe they are! Feels like it sometimes.

What's funny is... you can kind of see how my pelvis is tilted and the spine is curved and that's actually how my real bones are : (

This is an excellent craft. A+

Great suit!!!

Next-level!

Anyone here ever made anything out of concrete? Our handyman left half a bag. Maybe a planter? Doorstop? The Pinternet (that’s Pinterest Internet) projects do not inspire.

I haven't, but diy planter definitely is a thing I've seen before. You could get a silicone mold and make small objects? There are molds for everything!

[mention]yourfriendclaire[/mention] I made a small planter out of concrete once... I remember it was relatively easy. I used two plastic tubs (one smaller than the other) nested for the form. I mixed in crushed EPS to make EPScrete... the end result looks like concrete but is lighter weight and more insulated. Breaking up the EPS was the hard part... I think I put chunks in an old blender, but it's VERY static clingy and so sort of awkward to deal with.

It's still in use in my bathroom! Always wanted to try a larger version, but the form seems like the hard part. Would love to hear how yours goes!

I would want a concrete bust doorstop.

[mention]sashaburchuk[/mention] knows concrete! Or is it cement? Some kind of mere difference of chemistry, no biggie.

I would love to DIY with some concrete pigments. They look so gorgeous on their own, and with concrete, it makes such a pretty, milky, opaque look.

Will defos swoop some jacquard discharge paste on my next craft store run. I can never get the hang of bleaching color out.

Side topic: Hobby Lobby

Has anyone ever been in a Hobby Lobby? And if so... aren't they kind of an amazing consumer's paradise of on-trend decor and bedazzlement?

I knew that they lobbied for special exceptions under the law so they could get away with not covering employee's birth control. I knew they ran their business like a tax-exempt religious org. I even knew that the owner smuggled ancient cuneiform artifacts out of Iraq! A true dystopian scifi villain picture.

I'm not proud of it, but one cloudy day early on in Adrian when nothing felt real, I went inside to see it for myself. Perhaps my spirit was so weak a dark spell drew me thither. I didn't expect it to be so blinged out with budget Anthropologie drawer pulls, aromatherapy solutions, and half-price candles. The 50%-off candle sale pulled me in a few times more--I even developed what I called a "candle sense" for the sale, where most of the time I went in, the sale was on. Wait... that really was dark magic, wasn't it?

My depravity will come back to me threefold. Anyone else?

I've never been inside a Hobby Lobby, but I am very familiar with its cursed cousin, Joann's Crafts. Joann's always feels like it's just been ravaged by wolves (a big Zara energy too) and every time I go in there I have massive Bleak America feelings. So much plastic and destined-for-landfill seasonal trash, it feels like capitalism's evil assault on the very principle of making things yourself!

I don't think I've even SEEN a Hobby Lobby IRL. I guess there's one in Clackamas?

I also have the same vibes in Joann Fabrics/Crafts. It's so gross!

This place is pretty rad though apparently: https://www.yelp.com/biz/fabrics-for-less-portland

Fabrics for Less rocks. Did anyone ever go to Fabric World on lombard? It was so weird and good, half craft store, half thrift store.

Can anyone give me any hot tips on block printing on fabric?
I have this big old bedspread that I’d like to breathe new life into. It is woven and has a lot of texture. I’ve been thinking should I get some soft wood blocks and carve those? I think doing it potato style would be fun but the blocks should be as big as possible, not potate size.

I went through a block printing phase! after some early success with potatoes I got myself a little beginner lino-kit and carved up some stamps out of lino panels and scrap wood. The lino panels are definitely easier to carve, but it strikes me that anything flat and cuttable would work. Why not just use an old lineoleum tile, rather than the craft-store variety? The proper little ink roller is more important, because you want that ink to be tight and perfectly tacky (the roller should make a sound like pulling velcro when it’s properly inked).

Oh Fabic Wo! (real heads know)
How I miss that place!

I wish I knew! Keep us abreast!

I made a wreath and loved it, it's very fun! If I ever need to change careers I'll be a... professional wreath maker? I don't think that's a thing, but still. I'd be happy to make them all day long.

Pics please!

Yes, @meadows. Show us the wreath.

I need to have my friend snap a pic- I gave it away! It's not a really wild or interesting wreath, but now that I know how to do it I can imagine all kinds of cool things to try.

I like the idea of wreaths and/or garlands instead of a tree this year. All of the seasonal pine scents and none of the fuss!

our tree this year. it is an avocado and it is trying its best.

dithered it up for ya

lol, really no detail there! it's some nice different kinds of greens. the bow was added later, I didn't do that part- I prefer it raw.

Sup my craftin freaks

This weekend I decided to smash a beloved but severely cracked ceramic vase to bits and MOSAIC the fragments using some old tile grout in the garage. It was a messy enterprise and the grout cracked after it dried, which meant I had to re-grout it this afternoon, but I'm pleased with the result.

Don't ask me what this object is! I was thinking "long decorative trivet," but that will entail building some kind of wooden frame around the mosaic, which is beyond my skillset. I can't wait to host a dinner party in the After Times in my home absolutely wall-to-wall adorned with unfinished crackpot projects.

It would look great with an ambrosia salad!

(you know I mean that as a compliment)

[but it would]

what a delightful object- i bet it was really fun to make

That is a very cool trivet. If it were mine I would use it for a fancy pickle spread at a party.

My recent craft has been decorating boxes with paper, felt, and fabric finishings. One was covered in contact paper, then decorated with markers, then edged with washi tape. What's in the box? Smaller boxes!

It's turtles all the way down!

Washi tape is one of those thing I would love to know what to do with. I have some I once bought and I just hoard it like I do with most 'shiny' things. When I have used it, it just comes unstuck like that *snap*!