Bleaching Denim and a GIVEAWAY

Do this

Dip it in this
Get some of this ready to neutralise
take a little nap, and you get this

Bleached denim all ready for some more cushion backs.

What about the giveaway? I hear you ask ....... Well .......... you could win ......
a voucher for $80 to spend on lighting of your choice at Buyster. Whether you sew by hand or machine we all know that good lighting can make all the difference. The Buyster people have a fabulous range of lighting for all sorts of needs. Could you use $80 to spend on a new light?
Here's the deal:

1. Competition is open to Australian residents only - sorry!
2. To be eligible to win you must be a Follower of this blog, if you're not already one go to the right hand side bar and become one.
3. Then just leave a comment - anything you like really. Edited to add: Anonymous comments probably not a good idea - I won't be able to track you down if you win!
4. If you also have a blog, you can get an extra entry if you post about this giveaway on your blog - just leave a 2nd comment to say that you've linked me.
5. Easy! A random entry will be deemed the winner on Sunday 24th January, 2010.
6. Good Luck!

Finally, how cute is this little vinyl sticker from etsy! - Lindsey T put me on to it.

Who sewed this?

Annalise sewed this! This is the result of her 2nd lesson - a Sewing Basics 2 bag.

With floral lining and a touch of applique ....

She is now the proud creator of a very cool bag ...

Sorry about the lack of focus .... and next we have Nicole's monumental quillow for her neice ...

This is the pillow that the quilt folds into - all hand embroidered with love .... Nicole was an absolute beginner at the start of this year - she is now sewing with confidence and creating some fab projects ....

This is the quilt - fabric range is "Hello Betty" by Chloe's Closet (MODA) - she used a Layer Cake - nice and easy - she also added some piped contrasting strips to break up the pattern a little ..

Here's Nicole (on the left) and Anissa (Happy Birthday!)- yes! the quilt works! It's soft and cuddly!

Now, for some of my sewing .... here is a very very very big cushion -

You can see that it is the KING of cushions up next to those weedy ones .....

Fabric - IKEA ....

This is a birthday pressie for my 17 year old neice ..... Happy Birthday Miss B!

Cushion Insert from Goldies ..... BOUND to be BOUNCIER!

You may already be aware that I dabble in dyeing ... this time I had a go at the opposite - removing the dye - bleaching some denim. The tub on the left has a bleach solution - just your laundry liquid bleach .... you put the fabric in and wait for it to bleach to the degree you want .... then the tub on the right is a neutralising solution - something like an enzyme based laundry soaker - eg. Sards Wonder Soaker or Napisan - read the label - it should say "Do not use with Bleach" - so you place the bleached fabric in that solution to stop the bleaching process - otherwise you'll be left with holes ... leave it for 10 minutes and wash.

The black and white stripey fabric is some interlock scraps that I used as "ties" for the denim - by the way - the striped fabric did not bleach - not one bit - the power of polyester!!!

You can see some of the denim losing colour ... and here is the finished product ...

the effect was quite random - because I bleached such a bit piece at once - smaller bits may be able to be done more controlled if that's the effect you want ...

And here is a bag I made from the bleached denim - another gift for my 17 year old neice ...

It's a Squared Swing Bag - pattern designed by my clever school colleague - it's our new Year 8 Textiles bag - the other one had a curved gusset - it was a tad difficult for beginners so, this one is easier....

I used Vilene S520 as a hard base ...

Tie dyed fabric for the lining - of course!

Now, as I was uploading these photos ready to blog ... I found the following photos ..... my 12 year old Sweet Pea cut off her jeans to make shorts - it's just funny that she thought she needed to photograph the process ...... a future blogger???

Here's the BEFORE ...

And now for the CUT ... right where mum chalked a line ....

And the result! Easy!

Finally, it was Father's Day today - Happy Father's Day Shaun! Here's a portrait by Sweet Pea!