Block printing curtains

yvonne763

Hi, I'm a newbie to the forum as my previously sufficient wage is now exceeded by my outgoings! :mad:
I have some cream curtains (very wide and long) which are in excellent condition but I'm painting the room cream and think all cream may be too much of a good thing. I'm reluctant to dye them as I'm worried I'll turn my washing machine a lurid colour and I don't want to spend loads on new curtains, so thought some nice bright motifs may be the answer. Apart from potato printing when I was in the guides (was it really 38 years ago? :eek:) , I've never done any block printing on fabric. Can anyone out there tell me if they've tried it and what the results were. Did you use potatoes or are there blocks commercially available?
Thanks for your help.

mary43

yvonne - I've never done block printing so can't help you on that, but when I needed new(ish) curtains for me den/comp room I picked up some beige lining curtains from the charity shop and down the centre of each on I stiched some patterned voile in a sort of rust, darker cream and brown. I just broke up the plain colour of the curtains against the beige wall I've got.
Just an idea.
Good luck whatever you decide to do:j

yvonne763

Thanks Mary, I did wonder about something along those lines and it's good to know it works!

Dazi

I don't know anything about block printing, but have done loads of dying in a machine. As long as you buy the right kind of dye you will be ok, dylon do one for washing machines, have used this and its always come out ok, and the next wash has been fine too, if you are worried, just run the machine on an empty load afterwards.

An alternative could be stenciling the curtains, have used fabric paint to do this, not on curtains, used it on skirts that were used as dancing costumes, these were used over and over again and washed and washed and the design still stayed good.

Also, if the room is to be cream, you could always sew a contrasting colour down the outside and middle edge.

yvonne763

Thanks Dazi, I've never tried dying in a washing machine due to my ability to run colours just looking at them, but your response has given me confidence. Stencilling is a no-no for me as I'm too cack-handed but the contrasting colour is a good idea as I can use a sewing maching provided it's in straight lines! Thanks.

moanymoany

I saw a programme where a pair of plain coloured curtains were given a makeover. A band of fabric that picked up other colours in the room was sewn down the meeting edges of the plain curtains.

yvonne763

Looks like some sewing is definitely on the cards! Thanks moanymoany