Bleaching Fabric for Bags ~ Pinterest Challenge

Welcome to the March Pinterest Challenge Blog Hop, hosted by My Pinterventures. The purpose of this Pinterest Challenge is to motivate all the participants of this hop {and y’all too} to not just pin, but to make it happen! Look below for a list of past challenges.

Past Challenges

Only one to show for this year, but you can check out this post for a list of 2018 challenges.

• Giant Paper Roses
• Making Feathers of All Kinds

Now, let’s look at what I picked for the March’s challenge! This month I decided to tackle bleaching fabric. It’s something I’ve wanted to try out for a while now, so I could make unique fabric to use. The pin I had came from Threads Magazine & it’s a great article called Dyeing with Bleach. I’m testing out this technique on a bag shell I had sewn up for my Etsy shop.

To join next month’s #pinterestchallenge, click here to sign-up ⇒ April Pinterest Challenge

Let’s meet this month’s Pinterest Challenge hosts!

Erlene – My Pinterventures  •  Jenny – Cookies Coffee and Crafts
Debbee – Debbee’s Buzz  •  Lynne – My Family Thyme  •  Pili – My Sweet Things
Bri – Halfpint Design  •  Julie – Sum of their Stories
Erin – The DIY Nuts  •  T’onna – Sew Crafty Crochet
Beverly – Across the Boulevard •  Kristie – Love My Little Cottage
Roseann – This Autoimmune Life  •  Terri – Our Good Life
Ali – Home Crafts by Ali  •  Cherryl – Farm Girl Reformed
Leslie – Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After •  Kelli – K’s Olympic Nest
Lauren – Mom Home Guide  •  Joanne – Our Unschooling Journey
Shirley – Intelligent Domestications  •  Gail – Purple Hues and Me
Audra –  Renewed Projects  •  Habiba – Craftify My Love
Kristie – Teadoddles •  Marie – The Inspiration Vault  •  Susan – Suzerspace
Lydia – Lydia’s Flexitarian Kitchen •  Maria – Simple Nature Decor
Sam – Raggedy Bits  •  Emily – Domestic Deadline •  Marci – Stone Cottage Adeventures
Alexandra – Eye Love Knots  •  Alayna – Alayna’s Creations
Terrie – Decorate and More with Tip

Gather The Supplies

The supplies needed for this project are probably some you have on hand already. There’s bleach, of course, & you’ll need a spray bottle to dilute it in. The original post suggests a solution of 1 part bleach to 2 parts water. I mis-read this the first go around which I’ll talk about later!

You will also need to mix up a neutralizing solution to help stop the bleaching process. I found this recipe, 1 part hydrogen peroxide & 10 parts water, over on the Clorox website. The original post also mentioned using vinegar as a neutralizing agent. This is a very important step because bleach will continue to eat away at some fabrics.

For my fabric I picked out this 100% cotton striated suiting with a denim like texture. Natural fabrics work best for this process as most man-made fibers are color fast. This is already sewn into a bag shell, but I think next time I’ll dye the fabric before sewing.

You’ll also need 3 or 4 buckets depending on the process you’re using. Dipping the fabric requires a 4th bucket. I only had two Home Depot buckets, so I put my neutralizing solution in a big bowl.

Two buckets of water, one bowl to neutralize, bleach solution in the spray bottle, gloves, & fun chicken boots – looks like I’m ready to start! : D

Bleaching Fabric

So, remember how I said I mis-read the bleaching solution proportions before? Well, the first time I sprayed the bag nothing really happened…

There was some fizzing happening in the drips, but no color changes….hmmm….

I looked back at the post & realized I’d mixed the solution 1 to 4 instead of 1 to 2 because I was looking at the dipping solution instead of the spray solution. Oops! I went back in the house & added more bleach to the solution.

After about 10 minutes I could see some changes starting to happen…

The original post suggested not leaving it for more than 8 to 10 minutes, but I wasn’t seeing the results I was looking for. It did say the weather could affect this & it was a cooler, dreary day when I did this. I decided to spray it again & let it sit for a bit more. After another 6 or 7 minutes I could really see the color fading.

I also had a visitor sniffing around when I came back out…

It’s the neighbor’s cat & it reminded me to be more vigilant when working outside with chemicals.

I went ahead and rinsed the bag in water, then the neutralizing solution.

I did let it set a little bit in the neutralizing solution, but it didn’t say you had to do that. Then I rinsed it in the last bucket, squeezed it out, & put it in the washer with regular detergent. I hung the bag to dry since it’s 100% cotton & prone to shrinking.

Washed & Dried

Here it is after washing & drying…

I really like how the pattern turned out! Each side is a little different…

On the inside you can see very little color loss. This is a heavy weight fabric, so it would need more saturation to get to the other side.

The whole fabric really lightened up after washing. Here it is beside the original, un-bleached fabric…

The top of this unraveled really bad & I wanted to add some batting for quilting, so I ripped all but one seam. You can really see the whole pattern better this way.

I trimmed the top & added a band of lighter denim. Then I followed the drips with a thread almost the same color as the light denim.

It’s a subtle detail, but I really like how it turned out!

Here’s the bottom flipped up…

This bag still needs a lining and such, but I’m happy with the results! I’m looking forward to experimenting with different fabrics & methods. Next time I will dye the fabric before sewing it up, so I don’t have to rip out seams!

Don’t forget to check out all the other bloggers Pinterest challenge posts!

Find the hosts’ Pinterest Challenge Inspired Projects below ⇓⇓