Fused Plastic bags tutorial

This is copied from a blog I wrote on myspace on May 7, 2007.
I was all set to write a plastic fusing tutorial because lots of people were asking me for one, but then Etsylabs published a tutorial on May 6! LOL
So I wrote mine anyway, but more as a complement or addition to theirs.

Here are some good tutorials for fusing plastic bags:
http://etsylabs.blogspot.com/2007/05/long-overdue-fusing-plastic-bag.html
http://blog.etsy.com/?p=239
http://modcottage.com/?p=109
http://www.inthewake.org/howtos/shopping-bag-plastic.html

Read these first for a general understanding of how it works.
My own tips and tricks I will add to the above:

This is all you need to start fusing:

1. an iron
2. a hard heat-resistant surface like a wooden cutting board
3. baking parchment paper. This works better than typing paper because it's silicon coated and nothing sticks to it. It's also larger, and semi-transparent so you can see appliqués have the correct placement, etc.
4. Some plastic bags! There's no shortage of those in the world, unfortunately.

DO's and DONT'S

DO set the iron between polyester and rayon. One of the tutes says to set it at cotton, that is too hot in my opinion but perhaps irons vary.
DON'T use steam.

DO fuse both HDPE (recycle code 2) and LDPE (recycle code 4) bags

HDPE is the crinkly plastic grocery bags, LDPE is the glossy stretchy bags like Target bags, also clear bags like dry cleaner bags.
They will both fuse, to themselves and to eachother. You may need to lower the heat just a bit for LDPE.
There are some tutorials which say you cannot use LDPE, but I have successfully fused it.
The sides of this bag are Target bags (LDPE) and the inside layers are HDPE


and this entire bag is LDPE, I used the clear bags my newspaper is delivered in on rainy days


DO use all kinds of plastic, not just grocery bags. Use the bags from frozen veggies, use the bag from dried pasta, bread wrappers, etc. You can use potato chip bags inside out to get a silver metallic color. This works better for small appliqués than for a large piece, because foil-lined plastic will not shrink at the same rate as normal plastic, so if you try to fuse large areas of foil lined plastic you will get bubbles and puckers..

DO apply the heat a little longer for thicker plastic. You also don't need to use as many layers when you use a thicker plastic.

DO put a clear plastic layer over any vivid colored design you want to show on the outside of the bag. Red ink especially seems to melt and bleed. If you don't use the clear layer on top, the ink will transfer to your paper like this

DO use a layer of clear plastic on top of appliqués too, to seal them in.

DO reuse the parchament paper over and over, unless it gets an ink transfer from a bag. Then you will need a clean piece, because it will transfer that ink back to your next fused piece.
DON'T use waxed paper instead of parchament paper! The wax will melt and make a stinky mess. Waxed paper cannot take the heat, freezer paper is also not ideal because it's made for use with cold not with heat. Baking parchament paper is the best because it's made to withstand heat up to 420 degrees Fahrenheit.

DO use a hard ironing surface such as a wooden cutting board. A hard, smooth surface will help you get even adhesion.
DO use firm pressure when ironing, but keep the iron moving. This isn't like fusible interfacing where you have to keep the iron in place for 10 or 15 seconds- f you do that the plastic will probably burn.

DO fuse one or two new layers at a time.
DON'T try to fuse all 8 layers at once, or the middle layers will have incomplete adhesion.

If you find your fused plastic curling up too much, flip it over and fuse the next layer onto the back. This will equalize the shrinkage and flatten it out.

DO sew the finished material in the sewing machine or serger.
DO use a longer stitch length, so you won't have too many holes forming a perforated line.(prone to tearing)
DO sew small items wrong sides together.
You DON'T need to turn the seams to the inside like you do with fabric items, because the plastic does not fray. Also, it may be difficult to turn smaller items like cosmetic pouches inside out.

To see some of my fused plastic finished projects, check out this Flickr set.

To see my fused plastic items for sale, check out my Etsy store. (more items coming soon)

Custom fabric tutorial- bleach stencilling

With the recent custom fabric tutorials and workshops on etsy,
http://blog.etsy.com/?p=272
http://blog.etsy.com/?p=284
I thought I'd write a tutorial on a bleach stencilling method I learned in 1989 in a Theater Fabric Modification seminar at San Francisco State University. (when I was majoring in costume design at the time)
There are some very good tutorials already on the web for the bleach stencil method:
here
here
and here
Those are good resources and you should read them for general tips.
All of the above are using the familiar type of pictorial stencils. The method I will share is using lace or a doily as your stencil, to make a patterned design fabric rather than a pictorial design. This was used in the costume shop to simulate brocade. Theatrical costumes are seen from a distance, not in closeups like film, so there is a long tradition of making cheap fabrics look like expensive ones, and it only has to pass from a distance. But the technique is a cool one for adapting to craft usage.

Before you get started, some Do's and Don't's:
DO wear old clothes that you won't mind if they get bleached
DO wear safety glasses- the bleach mist might go in your eye, and as they said in Ghostbusters: "that would be bad".
DO this process in the shower or the garage, or outdoors.
DON'T do it in any room with carpet, upholstery, curtains, etc.
DO use basic cheap chlorine bleach
DON'T use color-safe bleach
DO test a small piece of your fabric with some bleach solution before you start, so you will know what color you will get when it lightens.
DO use about 3 parts bleach to one part water.
DO use a good spray bottle that gives an even, fine mist with no drips and blobs.
DO use a dark colored fabric which is 100% cotton or at least a 50% cotton/50% poly blend. It doesn't have to be only T-shirts, you can do this technique on corduroy, denim, cotton velveteen, etc.

Here are the materials I am working with

I have a piece of black percale sheet, a poly-cotton blend, and a piece of heavy thick cotton lace to use as my stencil. This was a recycled thrift shop blouse.
You should choose a piece of lace which is thick, like a doily. Thin laces will just soak through. If you can find a vintage 1960's plastic lace tablecloth or placemat, those are ideal. Other thrift store finds like crocheted shawls can be used too- anything with an openwork pattern that is thick enough.

1. Lay the lace on top of your dry fabric, with a safe surface underneath. I'm using my washing machine lid, you can also use a large piece of tinfoil, or just do this process in the shower.
2. Spray an even mist of bleach onto the fabric. Don't saturate the lace, you just want a light mist.
3. Immediately remove the lace and set it aside or hang it up to dry.
This is the fabric immediately after the lace has been removed- the bleach has just begun to remove some of the dye.

4. let the dark fabric set a few minutes as the bleach continues to lighten it.
5. When the desired color is reached, quickly rinse the fabric in a bucket of water. Do not let it sit in the water. The bleach will be rinsed into the water and if you let it sit, the whole item will bleach evenly and lose the pattern.
6. Empty out the bucket and repeat a few times with clean water. Do quick rinses, swish the fabric around a few times and then change the water.
7. Now run the fabric through the dryer. This is my final result after it's dry:


8. you can also rinse and dry your lace to reuse it later. If your lace piece is small, you can do several areas at a time, one after another to make a repeating pattern. However, feel the lace periodically to make sure it's not getting saturated.

Another way to use bleach in making your own custom fabrics is the great Clorox Bleach Gel Pen.


For my example I am just drawing some simple spiral designs on my black sheet.

Let the gel sit for 1-3 minutes until the desired color is reached.
Then do the rinsing process from steps 5 and 6 above.
Then run it through the dryer.
Here is my final result:


These are just some quick samples of what can be done with household bleach. There's always an element of unpredictability and imperfection with this method, but I like that and it looks more earthy and handmade, like batik or mudcloth. It's not always possible to bleach a dark fabric into a pure white design. That much bleach would possible eat holes in the fabric. You are more likely to acheive a lighter shade of your starting color. For example here bleaching black fabric, I get a greyish brown. If you were bleaching a forest green cotton, you might end up with a light greenish yellow. So always experiment with a small piece first and don't use this method on very expensive fabrics. I find that when I use cheap materials, my creativity is liberated because I'm not afraid of ruining them! Most of all, have fun and be safe.

Ugly is the new black!

Submitted for your disapproval, the treasury of ugliness.
This is a collection of items nominated by their creators for the Ugliest Item on Etsy contest, which was the brainchild of Quirke.
The top row contains the first, second and third prize winners, determined by popular votes.

Now before you say what a meanie I am to call these things ugly, please understand this treasury was curated with love. All of the items in it were nominated by their own makers for the contest, with plenty of humor and affirmation by the etsy community. Many of the self-nominated items were actually sold during the contest, so the contest was also a good marketing gimmick. It really proves that ugliness is in the eye of the beholder. If these ugly things can find homes, it gives hope to all of us, that someone may find us beautiful.
Ironically, the jewelry artisan BOXC nominated this necklace, which I absolutely LOVE and have had it in my favorites since March 30! I even included it in a treasury earlier this week, which was completely sincere things I loved, with no irony or joke involved. Here's a screenshot of that trteasury.



I even nominated one of my own creations for Teh Ugly contest, but it was ineligible because it wasn't for sale in my store. (I know my dear readers will be heartbroken that they cannot purchase it!)

This little treasure was made as a gift for my friend Wendy. Here is the inside.

So, in celebration of ugly ducklings everywhere , and above all our ability to laugh at ourselves, I salute the winners!

Yet another online toy

So now I have a blog. Welcome to it! Well I had two blogs already on myspace, (my private one and my craft one) which I rarely updated, but now I have this one. Yet another online toy for me to neglect! I am not a big blog reader and will probably not be the most entertaining blog writer. The medium gives me some performance anxiety to be honest, like I was back in college with an essay due. I actually prefer message boards for my online communication, they are more democratic and interactive, less ego-centric, and I'm far more entertaining in short spontaneous spurts than in long proofread articles. I guess I am in constant fear of being exposed as not as clever as people think I am. I am the poster child for wasted potential. But then again, most blogs I read leave me with the distinct impression that their authors are not nearly as clever as they think they are. They just forge ahead anyway, unencumbered by self-doubt or self-awareness.

This blog will be focused on the craft side of my life. Stuff I love, stuff I am making, and how you can make it too. You won't find any sexual TMI revelations, any political rants, any whiny-assed petty griping about the minutiae of daily life, or any thinly-veiled passive-aggressive bashing of my friends which they are expected to decipher. You won't find any posts with a superior attitude that I am so much wiser and more evolved than other folks. I won't try to impress you with lists of the books I'm reading, unless they relate to art or craft.
It's the lighter and fluffier eclipse, now with 20% less bitterness!

Welcome to my unBlog.