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Playsilks - Page 7

post #121 of 211
9/10/07 at 1:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by elight23 View Post
Does anyone know how to dye those long 3x9 rainbow silks?
The best way to do your rainbow playsilk is to use squeeze bottles to apply the dye. You can probably get them at the craft store, grocery store and I have even seen them in the cookware section at Target.

I section off my color areas with rubber bands, prefering to use those little rubber bands used for kid's hair. I then apply the dye to the appropriate areas. I get the nozzle into the more scruched/tighter parts and gently squeeze the silk to get the color in there.

If you are using food grade dyes i.e. Kool-aid wrap the silk in saranwrap when you are done applying the dye and nuke it for 4 minutes at about 40 second intervals. Then rinse/wash as usual.

HTH
Kathy
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post #122 of 211
9/12/07 at 2:00pm
Can anyone tell me what will dye cotton gauze? I ordered some from A Child's Dream and I'll probably have about 2 days before I need to use them for a childcare setting.

Will the food /icing colors work? Or only Rit?
post #123 of 211
9/12/07 at 4:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rabbithorns View Post
Can anyone tell me what will dye cotton gauze? I ordered some from A Child's Dream and I'll probably have about 2 days before I need to use them for a childcare setting.

Will the food /icing colors work? Or only Rit?
I have had pretty good luck dyeing the cotton gauze with Dylon. I haven't tried the food dyes with it.

I love the silk gauze from A Child's Dream It is such a beautiful and useful fabric. It has a lovely weight and drape to it, but still very sheer. Try it, you'll like it!-
http://www.achildsdream.com/handwork...ilk_fabric.htm
post #124 of 211
9/12/07 at 10:06pm
I second E.V. Lowi's Dylon suggestion. Food grade dyes work as an acid dye wh/ are only useful on protien fibers(wool/silk) and nylon. Dylon Cold water dyes are a class of fiber reactive dye wh/ are the best to use on cellulose fibers like cotton. If you head to the craft store to get the Dylon make sure you get the cold water dye not the "all-purpose" dye. The all-purpose dye is basically the same class of dye as RIT and I always suggest you don't use RIT.

Kathy
post #125 of 211
10/8/07 at 3:55pm
For those of you who have bought yards of silk, how did you finish it? Did you hem them or what? New to play silks but not to sewing. Thanks!

:
post #126 of 211
11/5/07 at 10:45pm

sorry so long!

I was wondering if someone could help me figure out why my colors are bleeding so badly. I'm using Wilton's on Dharma silks. I've tried every combination I can think of as far as hot water soaks, acid soaks, upping the vinegar concentration. The best result I got was using a ton of vinegar and cooking for a long time. The water became clear, and then ran clear. But still, when I used a small amount of dishsoap, the dye started running out.

A couple of weeks ago I made 4 silks for a gift, and just couldn't get the water to run clear. So clever me, I hung them on the clothesline to let the rain do the rinsing for me. Well, the pins left dark marks where the dye didn't rinse out, and the blue and green were too close together and left spots on each other. I ended up having to redo all of them.

Is there a trick to make the color more permanent? I'm afraid that someone is going to get one wet on a light carpet. I'd also love to make a rainbow silk, but I don't see the point in even trying. I know there's no way I'll get anything like color bands.
post #127 of 211
11/5/07 at 11:56pm

Just a guess - I don't use Wiltons, but...

It sounds like you're only handwashing to get the excess dye out? If so, you should try throwing them in the washing machine. Even when I get my (professional acid) dyes to exhaust, I still need to throw my silks in the wash in my load of darks to make sure they're not bleeding anymore. The spin-out cycle helps a lot too, by pulling that last liquid out. One cycle is usually sufficient, sometimes I need two. But if you handwash it seems like it's taking forever. Forget all you've heard about silk being delicate - the dharma ones do just fine in the wash, except for the gauze, which you have to stretch out to dry. But NEVER, EVER use bleach - that will rot the fibers.



Quote:
Originally Posted by colleen95 View Post
I was wondering if someone could help me figure out why my colors are bleeding so badly. I'm using Wilton's on Dharma silks. I've tried every combination I can think of as far as hot water soaks, acid soaks, upping the vinegar concentration. The best result I got was using a ton of vinegar and cooking for a long time. The water became clear, and then ran clear. But still, when I used a small amount of dishsoap, the dye started running out.

A couple of weeks ago I made 4 silks for a gift, and just couldn't get the water to run clear. So clever me, I hung them on the clothesline to let the rain do the rinsing for me. Well, the pins left dark marks where the dye didn't rinse out, and the blue and green were too close together and left spots on each other. I ended up having to redo all of them.

Is there a trick to make the color more permanent? I'm afraid that someone is going to get one wet on a light carpet. I'd also love to make a rainbow silk, but I don't see the point in even trying. I know there's no way I'll get anything like color bands.
post #128 of 211
11/6/07 at 12:09am
I can *never* get reds to stick. Dylon, kool-aid, whatever. I throw them into the washer and it all comes out until they're pink. Hot pink at best.
post #129 of 211
11/7/07 at 3:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by isaberg View Post
If so, you should try throwing them in the washing machine. Even when I get my (professional acid) dyes to exhaust, I still need to throw my silks in the wash in my load of darks to make sure they're not bleeding anymore.
Thank you for this. I'm going to try it. They won't bleed onto my clothes?

Anyone have any luck with rainbow silks? How on earth do you keep the colors in their own spot?
post #130 of 211
11/7/07 at 11:34pm

Again, I don't use wilton, but...

Quote:
Originally Posted by colleen95 View Post
They won't bleed onto my clothes?
Not if the load is your _Darks_ (and I mean really darks like black, not jeans!) or your rags, which is what I do. Then again, I have a front-loader, and so I _can't_ run a load that is just a few silks - the machine won't work right without a heavier load. If you have a top-loader, you don't have to have anything else in with them, since you have more control.

Quote:
Originally Posted by colleen95 View Post
Anyone have any luck with rainbow silks? How on earth do you keep the colors in their own spot?
Once the dye has set, it's set, and while excess dye might slosh around in the wash, it won't stain the other parts of the scarf. Think tye-dyed t-shirts. There's a variety of techniques you can use. One way I do it is to fold the scarf just small enough to fill the bottom of the biggest pan I can find that still fits in the oven. I then soak the scarf in a water/vinegar solution (say 1 C vinegar to 1 Gal water) until it's completely saturated, and lay it out in the pan, making sure it's still really wet but not underwater. Then I pour the dye in stripes or patterns on the silk, squishing the scarf and moving the dye with my fingers so that the whole scarf has color, but so the dyes aren't bleeding into each other more than I want. Then I bake it for a while (I wish I could be more exact) at 275 or so until the dye has set. If the scarf seems to be drying out, I add vinegar water. Then into the washer for the spin cycle, to spin the dye-water out, then I wash it.
post #131 of 211
11/7/07 at 11:36pm
...And ma2maya has two other great techniques a few posts back, too, that are a lot less vague than mine!
post #132 of 211
11/8/07 at 3:07am
We got a gorgeous rainbow silk by taking a blank and dipping it into our leftover egg dye at the spring equinox. I just scooted all six cups close together and stuck the scarf into all of them and let it sit overnight.
post #133 of 211
11/16/07 at 2:27am
well, i got my dharma silks and am excitied about getting them dyed up

i am wondering - can one do it in a crockpot? I know you can with wool yarn - so why not with silk right?

i have 6 35" square and 12 11" square silks, so i might use one of the 11" to test crockpot method. i would think a goo dlong heat set would help keep them from bleeding too much? And, i could add in dye as it exhausts if it needs more color... (reds and blues i'm thinking mostly)
post #134 of 211
11/17/07 at 3:53pm
i just finished making 2 this morning in my crockpot!

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...picture403.jpg
post #135 of 211
11/19/07 at 7:25pm
Where do I get koolaid? I'm in Canada. Is it non-toxic dye?
I wonder why playsilk. Can we use nylon scarves, receiving blankets and so on?
post #136 of 211
11/20/07 at 11:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by KJoslyn78 View Post
i just finished making 2 this morning in my crockpot!

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...picture403.jpg
Those are beautiful - did the red stay color fast?

I have my Dharma silks coming soon (I hope)

Do you mind sharing your crockpot method?
post #137 of 211
11/20/07 at 12:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ubelle View Post
Those are beautiful - did the red stay color fast?

I have my Dharma silks coming soon (I hope)

Do you mind sharing your crockpot method?
yes it stayed color fast! the only thing i did with the red that i haven't done with other colors was put them in the dyer (HUGE MISTAKE, 1 shrunk by 2 inches in width and length, and 1 of the hems unraveld a bit).

If you do purple, use kool-aid only - wilton's have a funky uptake for blue vs red in the purple, and i had some sploching

here is my directions - i posted them in my blog:

http://kjoslyn78.blogspot.com/2007/1...-playsilk.html
post #138 of 211
11/20/07 at 4:20pm
Do you have to wash the undyed playsilks in special soap/detergent before you dye them?
post #139 of 211
11/20/07 at 5:28pm
i didn't - i just washed the silks by their own with just regular soap and hung them to dry.
post #140 of 211
11/21/07 at 5:20pm
i havn'et had a chance to read the whole thread...but where is the cheapest(including shipping ) for silk blanks?