Fun with rust!

I decided to play with rust dyeing. First, I saved a bunch of rusty stuff from the burn pile at our farm. Then, I put them in a jar of water with a bit of vinegar, and let them get *extra* rusty. Here is the jar of vinegar. Mmm..rustwater. I acutally have this on jar of rusty water hand to use as a mordant for various natural dye projects.


Then, I signed up for a quilt swap, and found some white 100% cotton flannel at the fabric store. Hmmm...... after some research into how to dye with rust, this is what I did. I laid out various rusty objects (nails, washers, staples, screws, etc) on the fabric, splashed a little white vinegar over, dumped on some of the rustwater, and then wrapped the whole thing in a plastic bag and let it sit outside for a week. Ah....art!

After a week, I washed the fabric in salt water, then threw it in the washer and dryer. The result is shown here. I LIKE IT! What do you think?

Now I'm looking for other interestingly-shaped rusty stuff, so I can do more dyeing!!!