Nanny's dollface

Looking for some guidance. I am planning to creat an appliquéd quilt wall hanging, which uses batiks.
the background fabric that serves as the base needs to be an ombré shaded batik that is cream, white, and teal green- overall it reads medium teal green. I need to ombré the fabric so the top 1/3 reads a light teal green with a small top area reading white.
i was thinking of wetting the piece with water then diluting bleach with water in a spray bottle and lightly spraying the top 1/3 of the fabric with a heavier spray at the outer top edge. Let the fabric dry outside, then place it in the drier if any bleach crystals form.
So to all the creative quilters, who make their own rules, has anyone done this before?
thanks so much!

ManiacQuilter2

WOW, never did any color manipulation but is sounds like a solid plan. Good Luck.

nycquilter

just be aware that bleach doesn't always shade as you wish it would. Check out your idea on a smaller piece first. If it doesn't work, dyeing your own fabric in an ombre pattern is not that difficult.

humbird

I'm wondering if you could dip one end of the fabric in a bleach solution. Then rinse the fabric to stop the bleaching/shading process. Redip the very end to make it lighter, and rinse again. What ever you do, I would recommend rinsing the bleach out of the fabric before drying. I would think the bleach would so some damage if left in the fabric. Do try on a small sample first. My neighbor has done some experimenting using bleach, and found that some fabrics won't fade at all, and others change colors completely. I remember her using a couple different black fabrics. Both 100% cotton. One bleached to a beautiful red. The other an ugly brownish. As mycquilter suggested, dying may be an option.

KarenK

I agree with humbird. Spray or dip 1/3 of the fabric and stop the bleaching process when it lightens to where you want it. Then spray or dip the end to lighten it further, then stop the bleaching process.

Found this information from Eastern Michigan University in a Google search: http://www.emich.edu/textiles/PDFs/bleach.pdf

ghostrider

I've done quite a bit of discharge dyeing and love it. The results, however, are unpredictable. It depends on the dye that was used for the original color. Not the color of the dye, but the chemical base of the dye. It generally does not simply lighten the shade of the fabric.

Yes, you have to stop the bleach with either anti-chlor or hydrogen peroxide and water (a 1:8 ratio is good). The usual sequence is bleach, clear water bath to rinse out bulk of the bleach, stop bath (5 min or so), and then launder with a mild detergent. Water alone will not stop it. If you don't use a stop bath, the bleach will rot the fabric. Letting it dry on the line would be a mistake. Bleach works very quickly when you use it for discharging fabrics.

There is a ton of information available online. Look for 'discharge dyeing'. And remember, bleach can be dangerous to skin, eyes, lungs, clothes, etc so act accordingly.

Some good sites to start you off:
http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/...leach/page/all
http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/dis...hemicals.shtml
http://www.dharmatrading.com/techniq...scharging.html

applique

I paint mine. Starting with 'prepared for dying' white fabric.