UnBleach Stencils
It was a weekend for an experiment. I bought a nice merino wool scarf at a holiday sale. It is plain peacock blue, which is a lovely color, but it seemed to need a little something. I thought about shibori dyeing it, but I am a little over shibori right now. So I went and got a bottle of discharge paste. What’s that? It’s like bleach in that it will take the color out of almost any natural fiber, but it is not as nasty to work with. Bleach will also liquify wool and silk, which is not usually an effect you want. I have heard about discharge paste, but never used it, so here goes the experiment.
I first cut a freezer paper stencil of a dragon. (love dragons) I was inspired by a medieval dingbats font. I redrew this guy and simplified him a bit to make a better stencil.
Here’s the stencil partly cut. I folded my paper in half and cut two at once so I would get a mirror image.
Then I ironed it on to the scarf. (If you want a good tutorial about freezer paper stencil, just google. There are a bunch). Next I painted on my discharge paste. It is roughly the consistency of egg whites and smells like old tuna. (No kidding.) Not seriously objectionable, but not so charming, shall we say?
The key is to make sure it soaks in to the fibers. This picture has it all painted on (although you can’t tell). The magic doesn’t happen until after it has dried and you iron it.
So, stay tuned for tomorrow for the results!
