Craft Disaster: the sad demise of a tram cushion

I don't know about you but I looove reading craft disaster stories. Not ones that don't have a funny side, but ones where the disaster survivor is able to shake their head at their own foolishness and use it to give the rest of us a laugh. Even better is when the disaster takes the survivor on a new direction altogether, in the spirit of "what doesn't kill me only makes me stronger." One example I still giggle over is CurlyPops' felted jumper (and the rescue attempt).

This weekend I have had a craft disaster of my own. At Olive Grove Studios one of my W Class Cushions had been leaning against an antique sewing machine for a couple weeks. When I picked it up to move it elsewhere, I found a nasty rust stain front and centre!

Sorry for the fuzzy photo.

I went straight to the internet to find out what to do. A highly recommended technique was to pour lemon juice (fresh or bottled) over the rust stain and then steam it over a kettle. Gingerly I gave it a try, being careful to rinse out all the lemon juice after the steam session, and hey presto! It worked!



But alas, the lemon juice had seeped across the different fabrics before I rinsed it out and had caused the colour to spread.


Alright, maybe it's subtle, but I couldn't put it back on sale knowing it wasn't in top condition. Instead of searching the internet my first thought was Rit's Colour Remover. To quote one website:

To remove stains caused from dyes leaching from one article of clothing to another, you can purchase a product that is designed specifically for this purpose. It is called Rit color remover, and is available everywhere that you can buy fabric dyes. Soak in the color remover, then launder as usual.

I bought it from KMart for $6, read the instructions back to front, and used the method the box recommended: stove top. The box said to immerse the item in a simmering pot of water & colour remover for ten to thirty minutes. To be on the safe side I only immersed the cushion cover up to where the colour had spread, as I didn't expect the Spoonflower-printed destination to stand up to soaking. After eight seconds I yanked it back out because it looked like this:


If you can't see the problem, here's the back:


Oh. My. God. Eight seconds. Did I curse Rit and every product they've ever invented? No. The deserver of the blame is clear. I put a finished saleable craft item in a simmering vat of bleach without testing it on a scrap of fabric first. The only dummy here is my sorry self. I can't believe I did that. The only credit I can give myself is that I didn't turn my back on it for ten (or thirty!) minutes.

So what next? I could replace the back and the green and get it to saleable condition again (apart from the slightly faded yellow bit) - a lot of effort. I could retire it to my own couch but that'd be a constant reminder of what a dummy I am. Or I could try an experiment I've been wanting to... experiment... with for ages. Which is, wrap it around a rusty piece of iron and bury it in the back yard for a month or so* to make it really decrepit. It's called rust dyeing. I've had suggestions of adding a few rusty rivets and I could attack it with sandpaper too. Make an art piece out of it. Yes, I can see the irony. And the pun.

It seems the least sad option following such a disaster! And I promise to blog it if/when it happens.

* On further Googling the burying step doesn't seem entirely necessary. But it does add to the drama.