Home Sew & TellSew & Tell Laura’s Gorgeous Tunic with Discharge Printing

Laura’s Gorgeous Tunic with Discharge Printing

by Beth Cooper
The Front

Sewist’s Name: Laura Davidson from Sharpsburg, MD

Type of Project: Tunic/Jacket

Pattern: Sandra Betzina for Vogue 1621

Featured Date: 1-26-23


Hi, I’m Laura Davidson. I am a retired sewing educator and current surface design and dye enthusiast! I have been a proud member of The American Sewing Guild for 35+ years!
What do you do when you buy the rest of the bolt of lovely purple cotton denim while on vacation, only to get home and find a fade mark down the fold on every yard? Discharge print it with leaves and do discharge shibori to reveal lovely blue undertones! I also free-motion quilted it.

Discharge printing was done with fresh leaves painted with Palmolive Eco Dishwasher gel (it has right amount of bleach and viscosity. Softscrub with bleach and Clorox Bleach Pens give similar results. Test first and never use full strength liquid bleach.) Leaves are hand pressed onto fabric with a padded surface underneath to allow for good contact printing. A piece of fabric or tissue paper is on top of leaf to absorb leakage.

A fabric tube was sewn and placed on the outside of a large garbage can. Fabric is scrunched down to form folds and Eco gel is brushed on folds to get Shibori effect. All discharged bleaching has to be neutralized with a bleach stop product (Anti-Chlor from dye suppliers is good.) to prevent further deterioration of fibers. Rinsing or washing is not enough!

-Laura

The Front
The Back

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Joan Shriver
Joan Shriver
1 year ago

I’ve always wanted to have the bravery to try this – oh, my, gorgeous!

Jojo
Jojo
1 year ago

Such an original tunic, due to lovely purple fabric treatment. Thank you for listing products, and info re: the need for a neutralizer. I did not know that.

Joyce Minnis
Joyce Minnis
1 year ago

Love this, what a creative way to use a fabric that had a fade mark. I am going to try this, thank you so much for explaining how to do this. Just amazing.

Paula
Paula
1 year ago

Just fabulous, thank you for sharing.

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