Bleach Painting & Quilt Projects

Way back in high school I remember having a favorite pair of jeans that I embellished with a gazillion decorative stitches in lots of colors using embroidery floss - I think I wore them to death in the 70's - kinda wish I still had them! (not that they'd still fit, of course)  Anyway, this project I did over the weekend makes me think of those just a little bit because I think it's only the second time I've ever fancied up my jeans. Using a Clorox bleach pen I altered the look of this pair of denim pants.

To start with I cut some cardboard to insert inside each leg so the bleach wouldn't bleed through to the other side of the pants.

Then I used the fine end of the bleach pen to draw a design on the denim.  If you look closely you can see the faint chalk line I drew as a guide before applying the bleach.

Repeated for the other side. I found that the heavier the line of bleach, the whiter the denim turned. And you have to be patient and let the bleach sit on the fabric for a good 30 minutes or more. I rinsed the pants in the kitchen sink with my sprayer - then immediately threw them in the washing machine.

A friend has a similar pair of jeans with a Ralph Lauren label on them and I really liked the paisley type of design on hers so I went in the same direction although you could do anything under the sun using this same technique. FUN!

These two small quilt projects are not quite finished, but they need to come down off of my design wall - - - -

- - - so I can get started on the wedding quilt using these polka dot fabrics. The pattern for the quilt changed over the weekend so we're going in a whole different direction now - it will be fun.