Finding four dust sheets online for a ridiculously small amount of money—each one being about the price of an expensive coffee—sparked the idea for these drapes (curtains). When they arrived, I realized that they really were “dust” sheets for covering furniture during building work, rather than heavy, closely woven pieces of fabric for providing protection when painting. These dust sheets are made from light, 100-percent cotton fabric, with an open weave, which results in slightly sheer drapes that allow light to come through. If you wish, you could line the drapes or double up the fabric to make them opaque.
The dust sheet fabric was a little yellow, so I had to take this into consideration when selecting the colors. If I had used a blue dye, the result may have been a little green. I chose Scandinavian Pink, which dyed the yellowish fabric a light peachy color. The color was a little too strong, so I washed the fabric immediately before sealing it with heat. This took out some of the color, creating a pretty, delicate pink. The washing, drying, and ironing changed the dust sheet, shrinking the fabric and turning the fabric from smooth to one a little like cheesecloth, with a great texture.
For the stenciling, I used Scandinavian Pink again and Château Grey—a warm color with a cool muted gray. I only chose one stencil design and found that using a stencil brush to apply the paint, rather than a sponge roller, was more successful on this fabric. The trick with the stenciling was to know when to stop! A little goes a long way and it’s essential to leave some areas free of any pattern.
YOU WILL NEED
• Chalk Paint® in Scandinavian Pink and Château Grey
• Old bath tub
• Water
• Tablespoon
• Mixing stick
• Dust sheet
• Iron and ironing board
• Annie Sloan Sand Dollar stencil
• Stencil brush
1Pour enough water into the bath tub to cover the fabric well and then add a tablespoon of the Scandinavian Pink paint (see step 1 on page 106 for advice on how much paint to use for dyeing). Remember to consider the type of fabric you are using—this one is a little transparent with a loose weave and also rather yellow. Mix the paint well into the water. You can use a mixing stick to do this, but I like to use my hands to give everything a good stir, as the paint will settle at the bottom of the bath tub.
If your dust sheet is very large, you will need a large tub to dye it effectively without leaving blotches. You may want to cut off a little of the fabric before starting, so that you can test the strength of the dye and make sure you’re happy with the color.
2Dunk or dip the dust sheet in the dye. The paint may resist a little at first, so make sure you really work it into the fabric.
3Keep working the fabric, making sure you don’t miss any areas. If you think the fabric looks too dark, then rinse it out a little to remove some of the color. Washing the fabric will really soften it and this particular piece actually shrank by about 20 percent, so bear this in mind if you are measuring up for a pair of drapes (curtains). Dry and iron the fabric before starting the stenciling.
4Practice stenciling on a piece of spare fabric first before attempting the whole piece, to gauge the strength of the color and the amount of paint needed on the stencil brush.
5Randomly position the Sand Dollar stencil on the dust sheet and use the brush to stencil the whole of the design in either the Château Grey or Scandinavian Pink.
6I worked back and forth across the fabric with the two paint colors, randomly placing the designs in a cluster and sometimes filling in only the center of the stencil to make a small “flower.” After I had dyed and stenciled my dust sheets, I made them up into drapes.
Note: For instructions on making the dust sheets into drapes, visit www.anniesloan.com/techniques.
