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Little Leaf Bears by ShannaSo I had a ding bat moment and after tracing my bear out with black ink (oops), and sewing everything together, I decided to wet the mohair to fluff things up. I guess the backing got a bit wet and there are a couple of areas where the black ink bled onto the backing so it's a bit gray in a couple areas on the head. I was able to cover most of it up when I put on the ears but there is still a small section uncovered. Does anyone have any ideas on how to get this off? I could just kick myself, I can't believe I did this! I'm usually pretty cautious about using black ink to trace and only do it with the darkest fabrics, but I wasn't thinking. Maybe this bear will just have to end up living in my own collection.
Thanks everyone!
Shanna
PennsylvaniaWhat color is the fabric?
What kind of ink?
If it is water soluble ink, soap and water might get it out.
If the fabric is white it MIGHT be able to withstand judicious application of hydrogen peroxide or a dilute solution of "Oxy Clean."
Be careful or you can affect the color of the dye or you can affect the long-term stability of the fabric, itself.
The best thing to do is to test for colorfastness on a scrap piece of fabric or in an inconspicuous place on the piece. If it affects your test piece in a negative way, do not proceed to the real piece until you have a workable solution.
In any case, whether you use peroxide, "Oxy Clean" or any other solution, it is always best to use the minimum amount of substance necessary to do the job and no more. Work slowly and in one area at a time until you complete the job. The worst thing you can do is go too fast or use too much cleaner. That will surely do more harm than good.
That's about all I can think of.
Chaska, MinnesotaTry cleaning it off with alcohol. Try it on a scrap piece of fur first. But it works wonders in getting ink out of my clothes.
Fulrfun BearsSoak in milk! A friends daughter had a pen leak all over her new school uniform and this got all traces of ink out.
Don't bears like milk anyway?
Apparently hairspray works...can't say I have ever used it though!
PennsylvaniaDon't bears like milk anyway?
Chocolate milk! We like chocolate milk best. 
White milk is okay too, as long as it is used to make pancakes and waffles and stuff like that. :D
But we s'pose if we ate a chocolate chip cookie we would need something to wash it down with. 
"a bear by kim"what about incorparating the grey into the design by shading all the seams in grey so it looks like it was meant to be!
Oh no! What kind of pen did you use to trace? I always use permanent Sharpie and have never had problems with it bleeding. Depending on what kind of ink it is, hair spray does work. I've used it many times but usually on ball point pens. Let us know what works if anything.
Hugs,
Alison
Little Leaf Bears by ShannaThanks everyone. The problem is that his head is finished (well the whole bear actually)...eyes and eyelids in place, nose embroidered etc., so I'm leery about soaking him in anything. I might try the alcohol and see if that works. The pen was a TUL, it's kind of like a uni-ball. I will look for a permanent sharpie next time I'm at the store. Alison, do you ever get the backing wet after you have traced with the sharpie? Kim, I thought about shading the rest of the seams, but I would want to do that to the whole of the bear right, and not just the head? Thanks again!
Shanna
Shanna,
I can't say that I can ever recall getting the backing wet after the bear was done. But, I did just test sharpie on fabric and got it wet. It didn't bleed at all. Something you can make sure to do in the future is when you cut, cut just inside the tracing line so that you are cutting away all of the ink. I have another idea just in case the alcohol or hair spray doen't work. Instead of shading all of the seams, what about shading the stain? Get some acrylic paints and mix it so that it is the same color as the backing. You could pull the mohair away and dab it onto the backing, then heat set it with a hair dryer.
~ Alison
Little Leaf Bears by ShannaAlison-
Thanks for testing that for me. I do things a bit differently and trace the outline and that is what I sew on. I cut quite a bit outside of my outline for the seam allowance. I guess I don't trust myself to be even all the way around 
. Your paint idea sounds like a good one, maybe I'll check into the costs for some acrylic paints. It's such a small area that I'm hesitant to spend a large quantity of money on it especially since the mohair mostly hides it. I still need to get some alcohol and am hoping that will at least help. From now on I will try a permanent and be extra careful when re-styling the fur to poof the way I want it. Thanks again!
Shanna
