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Create Your Own Wearable Art
Step-by-Step Guide to Hand-Dyeing Silk
By: Angela Smith,
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Hand-dying silk is an excellent way to create unique fashion accessories for yourself or your home. It is also a fabulous opportunity to give one-of-a-kind gifts to your family and friends.
When deciding what to dye/paint, bear in mind that natural fabrics, like silk and cotton, are the best because the fibers soak up the color. If you want to dye silk, it's best to use an entire piece of fabric, rather than a ready-made piece of clothing. Scarves are a great item to start with. My first item was a silk scarf, like those you can purchase through www.dharmatrading.com.
Materials:
- A flat piece of silk
- Silk dye (If you plan to do this a lot, powdered is more economical. Otherwise, the pre-mixed works just as well.)
- An assortment of small brushes.
- Elmer's blue school glue gel.
- Something to stretch the fabric on - a frame, or an embroidery hoop.
- Newspaper that's at least 6 weeks old.
- A large cooking pot with a lid.*
- Large, empty tin can(s) that will fit in the bottom of the pot.*
- A small pan. (small enough to fit into the large pot).*
- Aluminum foil.*
- Paper towels.*
- Soap - Synthrapol works best when using dark dyes, such as black
Steps for silk dying
- Sketch out your design on paper.
- Select your colors.
- Test your colors on a similar piece of fabric.
- Attach the fabric to the frame using pins, clips, etc...
- Mark off your design on the silk with the blue glue gel. This acts as a resist, to keep the colors from running into each other.
- Paint your design. As you are painting, do not bring the brush to the glue lines. Instead, stop about 1/2" from the line, and let the paint spread to it. That will help prevent the dye from spreading over.
Allow dye to dry completely.*
- Spread fabric onto old newspapers, and roll. Using dowels can make the rolling easier. Be sure to keep the fabric from wrinkling over itself.*
- Fold the rolled fabric and newspaper back and forth, accordion style.*
- Put tin cans in bottom of large pot, and fill with water to half the height of the cans.*
- Place the rolled, folded paper and fabric onto the paper towel-lined small pan, cover pan loosely with aluminum foil, and place on top of cans.*
- Put newspaper over top of pot, put on lid, and weigh down with extra pots to keep most of steam in pot.*
- Turn on high until it begins to steam, then steam for 28 minutes.*
- Remove fabric from pot and newspaper, and wash well by hand.*
- Iron dry.
Wear and enjoy!
You can follow these steps to dye 3 1/2 yards of fabric at a time. The results are stunning and versatile.
Two examples of my hand-dyed silk. (The dresses aren't actually sewn, the fabric naturally drapes that way). Each piece is as unique as the artist who creates it.
*If you're using a dye-like paint, such as Deka Silk's flowable paint for textiles, you can skip these steps and equipment.
If you prefer cotton, you're in luck because it's easier to paint and dye, and you can work with clothing instead of a piece of fabric. If you don't own anything you'd like to experiment on, you might want to pick up some items at thrift stores or yard sales I found a great linen vest, and long sleeved cotton t-shirt at Goodwill, and both came to about $5.
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Angela Smith is a Raleigh artist specializing in hand-crafted jewelry and hand-painted silk. Her work can be seen at local shows, including the annual Artists for Hope exhibition at the Angus Barn.
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