Yesterday I took a trip to Abakhan fabrics in Preston, as sadly our local fabric shops have all closed down in the area. My plan was to find some simple plain white or neutral coloured fabric and when I arrived there were some large baskets of muslin and calico, so I opted for a few metres of both.

This afternoon I tore a strip off approximately half a metre and began cutting it down into smaller test pieces.

I decided to stick with the muslin at this stage and revisit the calico fabric at a later date. The muslin is a lot thinner than the calico so I was worried about how the chemicals would react and seep through the fabric.

I didn’t take great care in how the chemicals were applied – rather I just wanted to get it laid on as centrally as possible without worrying about it being complete square or straight. Once I had prepped all the fabric pieces, I put them in a pile to dry in my desk drawer where I know they will be protected from the light.

My only worry at this stage is whether they stick together during the drying process, so we’ll see how it goes once they have fully dried.

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