Originally Posted by
Wonnie
Just curious....what wouild happen if you wet the fabric with alcohol first THEN did your design or dots??????
The problem with this is that the alcohol dries very quickly. You would have to work very fast in small increments to get the bleed effect. As for which alcohol to use I have found rubbing alcohol from the dollar store works just fine. As for dyes, procion dyes are set with a soda ash mordant so no bleeding with alcohol. Other dyes I am not aware of would have to have another base to react with the alcohol. getting some fantastic effects with ink and alcohol is pretty easy but I have only tried it on small scale projects such as silk scarves. I have found the ink/alcohol technique works best on silk. It will work on cotton but the effects are less dramatic. One cotton fabric project was to dye a premade cloth doll many colors, she is a fairy princess so can be any color[s] she wants to be. For my hand dyed quilt fabrics I use a procion dyes. They are fade resistant and once set and washed will not bleed or migrate.