Scribble
I am not known for my patience. I do not enjoy waiting, and I do not do it well. So the less said about the time between when I heard about the sharpie and alcohol thing (Friday afternoon) and when I actually got some markers and started scribbling (Saturday afternoon) the better. The Boy was napping, I was impatient, I figured I’d experiment.
Now, there were a few flaws with my experimental setup. First, I didn’t actually have any terribly suitable fabric. The only thing I had that even came close was a scrap of linen left over from the duvet covers I made last summer. Second, I didn’t have any sharpies. I did have three other markers that smelled like sharpies. And really, I had only these three…the colors were chosen because that’s what was in the maker bin, not because I thought they went together. So, with that rather inauspicious start, I started scribbling. This part was fun, even if it did look rather awful.
Then came the wadding up and dipping in a bowl of rubbing alcohol. That was followed by a bit of squeezing. The alcohol turned bright orange (as did my hands, this part was messy). The change was dramatic.
I sort of thought I’d lost too much of the distinction of the original though, so I decided to opt for more scribbling. Well, first I let the fabric dry (didn’t take long, rubbing alcohol evaporates rather quickly), then I did more scribbling.
Now, instead of wadding the fabric up and dunking it in alcohol, I squirted the lines with a squirt bottle and rubbed them with my finger (my very very orange finger). It led to much more controlled chaos.
When I liked how it looked, I ironed everything to set the colors. I’m rather pleased with the end result. Not, clearly, pleased enough to have made the fabric into anything. But it was an interesting experiment.
I’m having this urge to order a bunch of plain white dishtowels (I’m thinking these ones), buy a big package of markers, and have people over for a dorky girl scout craft day once the weather gets warmer (this is a bit messy, so I’d prefer to do it outside). Tell me that adults need arts and crafts hour too, not just kids. If you were invited to come over and make stuff for an hour (with a campfire and s’mores to follow) would you say yes?
We did something like this for a Girl Scout camp project (sorry but I am a dorky GS volunteer). The girls loved it and were so creative. They decorated white t-shirts. Some things we found in experimenting are: Cheapo sharpie-type markers (not the real Sharpie brand) worked best. Using a spray bottle of alcohol or a eye dropper gave better “tie-dye” effects. if you work with a 2-layer item like a shirt use cardboard in the middle. Have fun.
I’d definitely say yes. Friends and I have gotten together to do glass etching, and it was a great time!
I don’t even need the s’more bribery.
without hesitation. there are some really inspiring examples of this online! how have I not heard of this before?
I would love to come to an arts and crafts hour! A friend and I used to do stuff like that many years ago. We did Ukrainian eggs, made baskets out of some bread dough recipe that you had to weave and bake…basically anything that caught our eye and we thought looked like fun!
My only experience with permanent markers and rubbing alcohol is that the combination works an awful lot like wet erase markers on plastic – basically we would laminate our maps and notebooks, then write on them with permanent marker (which stayed put even in the rain). Then when we were done for the day, we’d “erase” our map markings and notes with the rubbing alcohol.
I’ve never seen the combination used on fabric before. The effect looks neat, though I’m still not sure I’d use it on items that are meant to be food-safe. Most of the inks in the permanent markers aren’t food-safe, after all, even if they don’t bleed in the wash later.
I do like craft days, and I’m disappointed that we’ve never hosted any here. My house has a perfect space for it, but I don’t have enough crafty friends living close by to come. (The guys are more into video games than crafting.)
I would totally come! And would try and bring the posse and some booze!!
Hmmm….I keep saying we need another moot…a shamelessly crafty making-things moot. We could make it happen…
I would totally come to an arts and crafts hour, but I’m not sure I’d use Sharpies on a dishtowel (or I’d turn the dishtowel into a bag or something later).
In our house, dishtowels sort of sit on the front of the stove for drying hands and are pressed into service when a whole glass of water gets knocked over. They’re not really used to dry dishes, and they don’t ever come into contact with food, so I don’t see any problem with using sharpie on them.
Not only would I say yes, I propose to steal the idea.
That sounds like a brilliant thing to do with friends! Maybe have some drinkable alcohol on hand too though.
We need to moot! As soon as Mr.CTG is back on his feet we should think about planning….
We totally should!