Rainbow playsilk tutorial with pics

[crbyard]

I just dyed a bunch of silks for Christmas gifts and thought that I would share the pics since so many people would like to give them a go. Follow the link to the tutorial. It is so much fun and a great thing to do with the kids. I also did a night sky canopy that turned out great using stamps made from potatoes. My daughter thought that was awesome!

http://picasaweb.google.com/crbyard/...ysilkTutorial#

[kennedy444]

Wow, they came out great.
You make it look easy!

[catballou24]

oh thank you!! i've been wanting to do a rainbow scarf and your tutorial makes it much easier to do!

[operamommy]

Oh, that's gorgeous. I wish you would have posted it a few days ago. I needed a tutorial like this but have already ordered different silks.

[ColoradoKat]

Thank you so much! This is EXACTLY what I needed and want to do for gifts! You rock!~

[RollerCoasterMama]

Thanks!!! I tried it last night with koolaid. It didn't quite soak all the way through so I've got a little bit of a tie-dye striped look...but I love it!!!!

I didn't want it to be bright primary colors in the first place! I appreciate the detailed tutorial! This is the first one I've read that made sense to me and made me think I could do it with my own limited skills. :

ps. link to my rainbow: http://flickr.com/photos/30975615@N08/3052103006/
pps. I learned yesterday that lemonaid koolaid comes out a whole lot more yellow if you add a few drops of yellow food coloring to the koolaid! But that was another project!

[crbyard]

Wow! Great job on the pastel rainbow. That looks so light and ethereal. I was down at my family's house this past weekend and my neice had commandeered my Mom's silk scarves she wears to work. She played with them to make forts and capes, et cetera. I knew then that these playsilks should be quite a hit at Christmas.

Good luck dyeing everyone, and post pics of your finished products to share. I know we all love photos!

[tbone_kneegrabber]

so what do people do who don't have a microwave???

[crbyard]

You could just as easily steam the silks, wrapped up in the saran wrap. I have a double-boiler type steamer that would work very well (the kind that is like a strainer that fits into the pot with a lid.

[alisonsage]

or you could use the crock pot!

op- thanks for a lovely tute!

[GraceBlue]

Thanks mama! I have kool aid and 3 yards of white silk waiting for me! I am so glad I found this before I tried it on my own heh :

[RollerCoasterMama]

Originally Posted by GraceBlue

Thanks mama! I have kool aid and 3 yards of white silk waiting for me! I am so glad I found this before I tried it on my own heh :

When I did mine with koolaid it didn't quite soak all the way through, so I had a striped effect...it looks pretty cool really, but you probably want to make sure it can saturate thoroughly if you don't want tie-dye. (That being said, I LOVE my tie-died koolaid rainbow!)

OP: Is there something you do to make sure the dye gets all the way through the rolled up silk?

[crbyard]

I just carefully squish the fabric after I apply the dye and then reapply. If you can manage to turn the roll over without smearing the dyes, that is good, too. I find that the Habotai is harder to fully saturate. I didn't have that problem with the Organza I did a while back. If you have a serger, try the Silk Organza that Dharma sells by the yard. You need a serger to make a rolled hem on the cut edges so that it doesn't fray. I really like that rainbow the very best. The colors turned out super vibrant and it is really strong and flows well, despite being somewhat transparent. The photo of the organza rainbow is here

http://picasaweb.google.com/crbyard/...46764319918514

You can also make it as long as you want, since you order by the yard. Unless you use silk or cotton serger thread, the poly thread will not pick up the dye. You may want to use a colored thread for the rolled hem, just so it blends in well. I used white and it still looks great, though. Just a little pet peeve of mine that the thread doesn't match

[urchin_grey]

Oh, that is awesome! I tried yarn dying last year and it came out great, I'll have to try doing some silks this time around.


ETA: Just a quick question. I don't have any acid dye on hand, so I'll probably be using kool-aid. Would you recommend soaking the silks in vinegar before hand? That's what I did with my yarn, but wasn't sure if it was needed for silks. Thanks in advance!

[LenasMommy]

Thanks so much for this tutorial!! Yours turned out beautiful! Would you mind posting a picture of your night sky canopy that you made? I would love to see!

[RollerCoasterMama]

Originally Posted by urchin_grey

Oh, that is awesome! I tried yarn dying last year and it came out great, I'll have to try doing some silks this time around.


ETA: Just a quick question. I don't have any acid dye on hand, so I'll probably be using kool-aid. Would you recommend soaking the silks in vinegar before hand? That's what I did with my yarn, but wasn't sure if it was needed for silks. Thanks in advance!

My first round of koolaid dying, I followed the instructions to the letter and pre-soaked everything in vineger. The most recent batches I did not. I just made sure to add a big glug of vineger to the koolaid! For the rainbow I followed the OP's advice to spritz the rolled silk with water first.

2nd vote for pic of the night sky silk! After you said you stamped it, I found some stars and planets sponge stamps to use! I was thinking of free-handing the stars...but in reality, my artistic ability with a paintbrush is less than good. :P Stamping is much more up my ally!

[crbyard]

Here is a link to the night sky photo I added to the end of the rainbow tutorial album. Yeah, if you already have some star and space-themed stamps, it's easy. Just use a paintbrush to apply the paint to the stamp and then directly onto the silk. Iron the silk once the paint has thoroughly dried to set it.

http://picasaweb.google.com/crbyard/...90735724291938

[Pumpkin_Pie]

So beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing. I have always wondered how to make a rainbow silk. I have a silk canopy from Dharma and some acid dyes, but have held off trying to dye a rainbow because I just couldn't picture how to do it. I am definitely going to do this sometime this week after DS goes to bed. I want to hang it over our bed as a canopy. :

[Bird Girl]

Thanks for the tutorial! That looks like a great project; and your results were beautiful.

[medicmama]

Nice work!

This gives me the push i needed.