DIY Fabric Surface Design with Discharge Paste

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A few months ago I was introduced to the wonderful process of discharge dying. The basic concept is that you paint discharge paste onto the surface of your fabric and can create fun patterns. You can either leave the area where you painted the off white color that is left behind from the discharge paste, or you can introduce a new color. ( I haven’t tried this adding new color yet )

_DSC0034 I wanted to add some fun surface design to this piece. I used packing tape to create a pattern. Well not really much of an organized pattern but some guidelines no less. So wherever the fabric was exposed I painted a nice layer of discharge paste.  Make sure to use a lot of the paste, you want the fabric to be soaked the whole way through with the paste, otherwise your design will only appear on one side, and will leave small random marks on the other side. This can be done with a sponge, stencil, or free hand with a paintbrush. But I found it easier to use the tape and have to pattern laid out of the whole the piece. The discharge paste, really is that, a paste, so it works well with stencils, as it is thick enough that it doesn’t spread under your stencil edges.

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Next you have to let it dry. This is the part that is hard for me. I get excited to see the result and don’t like waiting for it to dry. But it does work much better if you give it time to dry. I painted this  piece in the evening and then let it dry overnight, so that it was ready to go when I woke up the next morning.

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The packing tape worked well as a mask. It was sticky enough that it didn’t allow the discharge paste to seep under it. But it also came off of the fabric easily, without leaving any marks, or pulling on the threads.

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Once the piece is dry, it’s time to add the heat, and see your pattern emerge. I love this part! ( warning, it does not smell good ) The longer the heat is on the piece, the more the fabric will discharge. I use mine on the setting to steam cotton. You will need to make adjustments based on what type of material you’re working with. If this your first time, I also recommend that you try a small sample piece. Not all colors and fibers discharge equally, so you want to be sure that you’re going to be happy with the result.

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Check out this video to see me in action. This is super fast paced, but you should be able to get the feel for the process.

 

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