Rusted Tea Bags


Above - Tea Bag Fronts
Below - Tea Bag Backs


Rusted Cotton Tea Bags - these were in the Nov/Dec 2007 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors, page 67, as was my recipe for dyeing with rust, but I was never given credit for any of this even though I asked repeatedly for credit to be given.


I love the rust dyed indigo bags the best out of this collection.


The patterning on the front sides of the back is very different than the patterning on the back of the bags, though they were rusted with the same exact objects.


Sewing Rusted Fabrics - The Fabric Rusted Through Now What???



My fabrics have rusted through now what?  Can I still use my fabrics? 
The anwser is yes you can still use your fabrics, with a little help from a quilters best friend iron on stablizer!


A small tid bit of rusted fabric that once lived in the fabric in the preceeding photo.


Heavily rusted areas that glisten, this glistening is due to the iron oxide deposits on the surface of the fibers.


A view of the area I will be working with, complete with a hole that has rusted completely through the surface.


Mistyfuse TM stabilizer, I pressed my top fabric first and then sandwiched the Mistyfuse TM between the top fabric and a piece of soft cotton fabric, as I will be using a wool batting and another backing fabric.  Needling is imporant for this piece hence the reason I chose to use the flannel. Cotton scrim is also suitable for this project.


The stabilizer and backing fabric are now adhered to the front fabric.


Here you can see the stabilzer and the backing fabric peaking through the hole of the rusted fabric, click on photo for larger detail shot.


Full view of the fabric after the backing fabric and stablilzer are put in place, I am now ready to make my quilt sandwich as usual and begin stitching.

Sewing Rusted Fabrics - Supplies


Supplies for stitching rusted fabrics with left to right: Mistyfuse TM fusible interfacing, sewing machine needles with large eyes, rusted fabrics, heavy cotton threads, pearl cotton, hand sewing needles with large eye, nymo thread. Other items needed are scissors, iron, ironing board, teflon pressing sheet, pins.

Hole that where the rust went completely through the fabric.


Nymo beading thread, fireline may also be used, basically any beading thread that is designed to be used with sharp and/or metal beads will work well with rusted fabrics.


Crewel or tapestry needle with large eye.


Pearl Cotton for those areas that your machine needle, and threads, absolutely refuses to play nice with, sometimes you  just have to think outside of the box!


I prefer Schmetz needles, I typcially use the largest leather needles I can find for my machine.


Aurifil 12 wt cotton thread, hasn't failed me yet but then again neither has the 50 wt cotton thread!  For those super rusted sections I simply used other threads to sew the area with and work more with embellishments.

Sewing Rusted Fabrics Tutorial



Sewing rusted fabrics is no different that stitching any other fabric except, and that's a big EXCEPT, when the fabrics are heavily rusted!  Then there are all sorts of problems that arise. 

For moderately rusted fabrics as seen in the above photo, a heavy cotton thread and a sewing machine needle with a large eye, like a leather needle, work well. 

But what does one do when the fabric itself or the thread shreds during the stitching process??? 

This tutorial will help you stitch those fabrics and get the look you are wanting.  I highly recommend having some extra rusted samples on hand and taking good notes on which processes worked for each sample, BEFORE you start the large commission piece.  Doing so will guarantee fewer headaches in the future ;-)

Materials Needed:
Rusted fabrics
iron on interfacing of some sort I use Mistyfuse TM
Sewer's Aid TM (Dritz) - liquid
Fray Check TM (Dritz) - liquid
Needles with large eye such as a leather needle
Heavy cotton or poly blend threads, rayon and silk thread will only shred to pieces in this process.
Nymo or Fireline for heavily rusted areas that you don't/didn't want to discharge.

Removing Excess Rust - Direct Method



Removing Excess Rust - Direct Method

Supplies Needed: Baking Soda, Old Tooth Brush, Spoon for mixing water and baking soda, sponge brush, optional, warm water, plate or bowl for holding baking soda paste.



Place onto your plate or bowl about 1/4 cup of baking soda, mixe warm water into the baking soda but just barely enough so that you have a thick paste, not too runny.



You don't want the past to be too runny as you want it to sit on top of the rusted areas and penetrate the rust, allowing it to sit on the surface will help to break down the thicker rust areas on the surface.



Apply the baking soda paste with a sponge brush or an old tooth brush.



Notice how thick the paste is on the surface, it is sitting on the surface.



Take your brush and work it into the surface of the fabric.



THEN flip your fabric over and repeat.



Apply a second layer of baking soda paste on the back side of the fabric, this is especially important on very thick areas of rust.  Yes you will lose color on your fabric however that can be gained back later in an iron mordant bath if desired.



Now that you have the baking soda paste worked into the surface wet the surface slightly to ensure further removal of the rust, you don't want the fabric to be dripping wet, just slightly damp.  If need be you can repeat this process as many times as necessary until you have acquired the desired level of rust necessary for sewing.

Wash, rinse,and dry fabric in the normal manner after removing excess rust, you may need to do this process more than once.

Removing Excess Rust - Process One The Soak Method



Supplies for removing excess rust using the soak method: gloves, tongs, long spoon for stirring, bucket, warm water, baking soda, plastic to protect work area, rusted fabric. 

Remember all items used for this project are NOT to be used again for genearl cooking/eating purposes.  Please use studio dedicated tools ONLY for safety's sake!!!  Wear gloves and old work clothes if you do not wish to stain your hands or your clothes.



Add to your clean bucket 1 quart of hot water and then mix in 1/4 cup baking soda.



The water will become fizzy, this is ok.



View of  your baking soda water, this is what you will use to reduce the rust on the surface of the fabric



Push your fabric into the warm water solution and thoroughly wet out the fabric making sure the fabric is beneath the waters surface, add more warm water if needed.



This is what your fabric will look like in the bucket, after about 3-5 minutes your water will start to change color as the baking soda knocks the rust/iron oxide particles loose from the fabrics surface.  I genearlly allow my fabric to soak overnight, if the rusted area is excessively heavy I will change the baking soda solution. You can save this solution as a mordant for dyeing other fabrics, you could pour it into an old soda bottle for later use.

Removing Excess Rust - Getting Started

Removing Excess Rust - Getting Started Removing Rust is very simple and is a form of discharge dyeing.


 
Above are three pieces of fabric I rust dyed using an old coffee can lid in 2003, each piece of fabric has varying stages of rust on the surface depending on their position in the rust bundle layer.  The piece of fabric to the far left was closest to the metal lid and therefore has acquired the greatest amount of rust on the surface.  The iron oxide particles are so thick that they shimmer as just like metal.
 

Above, detail of teh rusted fabric and rust particles.  Click on image for greater detail


Above supplies needed, excluding old tooth brush, foam brush, and nitrile gloves, includes bucket for soaking fabrics in, baking soda, water, and rusted fabrics.

Heavy Rust What To Do???



Heavy Rust What To Do??? I'm asked this question frequently especailly by quilters who are battling shredding threads, broken needles, etc.  Following is a multi part tutorial that will hopefully reduce the frustration of shredded threads etc.  

As you can see in the above photo there are heavily rusted areas that appear to be actual rusted metal.  That's because it is rusted metal.  The rusting process allows rust particles, iron oxide, to accumulate on the surface of the fibers/fabrics.  The end result, depending on the length of time the fabric is allowed to rust, is sharp jagged metallic edges that shreds thread, dulls needles, and leaves little flecks of iron oxide everywhere.

How to remove heavy areas of rust from my rusted fabric?

Question of the Day: How to remove heavy areas of rust from my rusted fabric?

You neutralize the rusted fabric with baking soda water first and then if there are chunks left behind, ok I leave mine because I like the look, you can put a baking soda paste on the fabric to help break it down. Keep in mind that sometime...s the rust chunks simply do not go away but it's worth a try.

Rubbing in with a toothbrush also helps, I have done this but gotta admit I have one piece of fabric that was super chunky and decided to work with it instead of trying to get rid of the rusted areas.