I use cold tea. Only leave the fabric in for a few minutes and keep checking. Put it back into the tea until the shade you want is there. The fabric will dry lighter. For a really 'light' colour use Earl Grey Fine Blend English Tea....this makes a lovely light cream shade.

If you want to distress and make fabric look older, when the fabric comes out of the tea, squeeze it and dry it off quickly. This leaves the 'stain' in the folds and will dry 'marked.' Uuseful for those old looking fabrics.

Ironing the fabric dry is also good because the tea stains dry with an edge around them.


Hazel

Anything that would soften the color?

I would suggest that you dip your fabric in tea and leave it there until it is the right color. Then wash and rinse. One artist leaves fabric hung outside until the colors are right but that could take some time with today's dyes.

The chemicals in tea will age your fabric in more ways than just color. There are products by Rit Dyes to do things with fabrics. JoAnne's Fabrics usually carries a full line of these.

Laurie Sisson

If you just want to bring down the intensity of the color you could try tea dying. Don't use a vinegar rinse or other fixative until after it's dry, so you can check the color.

I use 15 teabags (Lipton or equivalent) per gallon of water for real quilt sizes - a bit much for mini size.

I think I'd try 1 tea bag/2 cups water, let it steep quite a while, then either dunk and stir or pour the tea into a baking dish big enough to lay the fabric flat in the solution.

Carol Roberts

A trick I learned at the quilt shop was to use the wrong side of some cotton fabrics which definitely will decrease in intensity.

Also the fabric can be put in lemon juice and water and placed right on the grass on a sunny day.

Nancy
Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004

I like to use a cork backed metal ruller and a roll blade knife, also a self healing cutting mat.

Alice's suggestion of using glue on the back side before cutting works well and I have used it many times in the past on pre colored leather however it can bleed through natural leather or intefere with dye if you want to dye it later.

I find that the roll blade knife cuts so clean that the fuzz is not a problem. If you use dye on the back it tends to glue the knap down.

I'm not saying glue is no good but it has its down side.

First is that it makes the leather too stiff for reins and harnesses. They do nto drape correctly or conform to the horse body smoothly.

If you want to simulate stitching on straps try to find a little gear from a watch. Bend a fork for the gear to run between and then run the gear down the length of the strap on each edge. Some times it helps to dampen (not wet) the leather some.

Bill Hudson
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004

The reason for coating the back of the leather with glue and letting it dry before cutting it is twofold.

First, most leather is 'sueded' on the back, and when you cut it you get a fuzzy looking edge. The glue coating seals in the fuzzies and gives you a hard finsh on bOTH sides of the leather.

Second, leather tends to move or stretch as you cut and the glue stiffens the leather a bit so you can get a straight strip.

Alice Zinn - Pt. St. Lucie, FL
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2004

MicroStitchery by Bobbie Schoonmaker Needlepoint kits, charts, period hoops, frames, etc., supplies (silk gauze) & custom work for discerning collectors of dollhouse miniatures. Go to
http://www.micro-stitchery.com

Bobbie has kits for Christmas stockings on her website as well as many other wonderful things!

Also try here: Ms Jeanne Stitchery. Kits as well as silk gauze and other supplies.
http://www.msjeannestitchery.com

You may be interested to join our group of petitpointers at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Petitpointers/

Cheryl K. in Brampton, ON
11 APR 04

If you can knit or crochet, get a pattern for a regular stocking, but use much thinner yarn and thinner needles.

Lili ("Weaverlili")
11 APR 2004

We offer 144th, 1/4", 1/2", 1", & Play Scale fabric to match any of the wallpaper designs that we carry. You can view all the designs available at http://photos.yahoo.com/cjandke . Click on the wallpaper icon to enter.

Currently fabric is offered in two finishes: Soft Cotton Finish and a Gloss Finish at the same price. Email me privately for size of fabric pieces and pricing at cjandke@juno.com

Kristyn Start - 22 March 2004

One way to help you drape a quilt besides sewing wire along the out side edges, is to sew lead fishing sinkers (or the little lead weights from old shower curtains) into the corners or all round the edges.

Another is to dampen the quilt corners and put a layer of cling-film (saran wrap) over a box the same size as the bed. Drape the quilt the way you want and tie it down loosely with string, or tape or pin it on the under side and leave till dry. Starching may help hold it in place, too. I would not try this on computer printed fabic without testing it on leftover scraps of the same fabic, first.

Thirdly, some people stuff the edged with sand for weight. A good source of fine wire is discarded electrical wires. Strip the coating off and inside some types of wire are strands of tiny copper wires that won't rust.

Donna from Devon
3/22/2004