Sunday 15 June 2008

Lovely Rust

A few days ago my friend Grace gave me some tools which had unfortunately become rusty. She found it very amusing that I should want to take these things home rather than throw them away!

There are some lovely shapes amongst these old tools, triangular rasps, hacksaw blades, hinges, screwdrivers, bolts, jubilee clips.
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On a sunny day last week I wrapped various fabrics around selections of the tools and soaked them in a 50/50 ish solution of water and white vinegar and put them into plastic bags to 'cook'. It didn't take too long for the rust to appear on the fabric but I left it until the following morning to rinse the vinegar water away. You can see the results below,

I think this is a type of polyester material, it is very soft and has taken the rust beautifully.

You can see the marks of the pliers on this cotton.

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This is my favourite piece, actually it is the reverse side and the marks are lovely.

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The next question is what to make with it! Some dottee dolls maybe?

16 comments:

Locket Pocket said...

What a clever idea! I would never have thought of doing that! Lucy x

Gina said...

Fabulous patterns on your rusty fabrics julie - I think some rusty dottee dolls would look brilliant. Especially adorned with some rusty washers perhaps? Have loved the garden pictures on your previous posts too!
Gina xx

sharon young said...

What lovely patterns, Julie, I must get round to trying this.

Ro Bruhn said...

These are fabulous Julie, I tried this some time ago with an old rusty bike chain, the results were great.

Mai-Britt Axelsen said...

Wouw - I want to do that! Must go and look in DH's workshop ;O) Can't wait to see what you make of it.............

silverpebble said...

Julie, you've got me all excited again! - I love rusty things too - see my recent post for a pic of one of my treasured rusty old bandstand chairs in the background. The crackly texture and colour is so fab, especially mixed with the old paint. I keep deliberating whether to get the Hammerite out and then deciding not to.

What a great idea to capture the rust in fabric. Gorgeous. Not sure what a dottee doll is though!

artisbliss said...

You're getting quite good at this rust thing, Julie. These should make some very interesting pieces.

DeeMom said...

What are jubilee clips?
What an amazing result Julie WOW!

DILLY said...

JULIE!!!

JULIE!!!!!!

THANK for present, Julie!!!!

HUWAYYY!

Put on Dilly blog.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww Julie be luvvvvly to Dilly.

THANK Julie!!! Be lvvvvvly!

Ear hugs!

¬"

Unknown said...

These look great Julie, I am sure you find somthing to do whit them!

Tanguera said...

What a lovely find and your rust fabric turned out beautifully.

Julie said...

Deemom, Jubilee clip is a device used to attach and seal a hose onto a fitting such as a barb. (courtesy of Wikipedia)It's the round thing in the photo, a narrow metal sleeve with a gadget to tighten it. Very technical!

Dilly, Dilly! You are very welcome. Have fun!

B.T.Bear (esq.) said...

Is this how they did the Turin shrowd? Heheheheee jus bein cheeky. Heheheee. Looks like the sayme culler tho!

Julie said...

Bob, you are a very cheeky bear! lol

Helen said...

lovely fabric there Julie. I do like those textures.

Val said...

Hi Julie - your rust fabrics are wonderful - how about making a fabric book with these fabrics for the pages...... Val