Rusty Old Fabric and Old Women

I have been experimenting with rusting fabric. I have a new piece forming in my mind of a woman that is done in various shades of rusty colored fabric. As the big 65 birthday approaches more of my joints are beginning to complain upon getting up in the morning. Knees creak, elbows ache, and my back lets me know that it isn't as flexible as it use to be. I want to make a rusty old, plump woman, get it?

I didn't have many rusty pieces to work with.... a wheelbarrow, a few nails and a few

washers and a rusty rack. I jumped the water bit and used straight vinegar for soaking my fabric...since I was limited with items I kept twisting fabric and moving it around to get various sections of my fabric to collect the rust. It was a fairly slow process but it was working.Then my husband brought home a pack of course steel wool...I unwrapped the steel wool pad...spread it out and then put it between two piece of soaked fabric.

Covered it with plastic and placed a weight over it....boom I had rusted fabric...two for one...the more steel wool I used the heavier the rust...I just kept moving the rusty falling a part steel wool from one piece of fabric to another. I was on a roll. I soon only had a few strands...so got another pad. Today I plan to experiment... am thinking that I can form shapes with the unwrapped steel wool and then press it between fabric and get some rusty free form patterns. I have some Pepsi plastic bottle caps...am going to stuff them with steel wool and see if I can get dots, in fact my brain is going 100 miles per minute with different ideas. Here are a few close ups of my pieces of my fabric with steel wool....watch for my experimentation pieces later.