After last week’s efforts in bleaching my unused jeans, I still did not want to wear them after trying to style them for the week. I think this is because I only opted to bleach one side of the pant leg, which I initially thought would be a cool asymmetrical look; however, upon reflection, I realize that this is probably not the most ideal design for me considering I am so profoundly not a fan of asymmetry as an aesthetic that all the tattoos I have are dead centre on my body and completely symmetrical. Well… We live and we learn.
Regardless, since I updated you more on the process and materials of bleaching the pants last week, I thought I would dive into the actual techniques I used to achieve the distressed heart design.
Step 1: again, after mapping out the spacing and sizing of the hearts with chalk, I first simply dip a large angled paintbrush in a cap of bleach and outline every heart so the template is imprinted on the jeans, which makes it easier to continue this project in stages if a break is needed.
Step 2: I like to do these steps in stages, moving from one heart to the next to allow for drying time. After outlining each of the hearts, I go back to each one, starting from top to bottom in the order from the most to least dry, and go over the outline again to achieve a lighter look on the outside, which fades into a darker middle.
That’s the technique I used, implementing a heavier hand on the outlines of the heart to add more bleach while using light, fast strokes in the middle to achieve a darker ombre sort of look.
Towards the end of bleaching the front half of the second pant leg, my roommate came into the living room and ripped our window open. She let me know that it reeked of bleach in there, and suddenly, I became aware that I was feeling pretty light-headed. So I quickly finished what I was doing, put the jeans in a separate room in our home with the window open, and closed the door to return tomorrow, where I can finish it safely outside.
Update** I haven’t had the chance to go back to the jeans yet since I’ve been busy until later hours when it’s been too dark or cold to attempt the bleach outside. I will return to this project at a later date!