More about rust

My fascination and love of rust goes back a long way - back to living in El Granada, CA and walking on the beach always looking for shells and sea glass. I started finding and collecting rusty objects on that beach. At the time, I loved them because they had been washed up by the sea. Many of these first finds were sweet little tins with hinges and other whole objects that were recognizable. My second shop on Etsy was specifically for "rusty things". 

Now, I wrap them, treat them with different mordants to see how they react with fiber, and then I proceed to make things from the resulting fabric and string. 

This was my first attempt - lots of rusty things bound up in layers of muslin and then treated with vinegar only. 

I loved the fabric, but once I treated it in salt water to stop the rusting process all the lovely black parts washed away. So I did more research, and picked up this marvelous book bye Alice Fox.

So my next attempt was more successful - I highly recommend her book, and if you live in the UK you can take her workshops!