February Dye Day for Silk Warps

The day after dyeing the silk blanks we dyed some silk warps because we had some dye left over.  We had purchased some 2/22 bleached silk from Georgia Yarns and the silk has a grey tone.  In the picture is white 2/8 cotton and three tall cones of silk, so you can see the colour difference.

That evening was spent pulling silk warps, we got three warps each with 200 ends per scarf.

We soaked the warps in water first and they were very hydrophobic I had to use a plate to weigh them under water.

We then soaked them for an hour in Soda Ash.  It was the last of the soda ash we have and to buy more was going to involve a long trip to Victoria but doing some research I believe that a product called pH Up from the pool supply store is soda ash and I can get that here in town.  Has anybody used it?

We dyed the warps using our usual method of plastic wrap, disposable cups and sponge brushes.

From the last dye day I really enjoyed weaving the warps that I had dyed lengthwise so I did one warp blue and turquoise dyed lengthwise.

Next one is 2/3 orange and 1/3 pink also dyed lengthwise.

The last one is one of those warps that it doesn’t look so good but when it is woven up it could be amazing.  Or I could chicken out and over dye it.  It is gold, moss, plum, green and black.  

Mum's first warp is grey with areas of the natural silk showing through.

Next one is moss and plum dyed in streaks.  Similar to the Oil Slick Scarf.

The last one is a really pretty green and purple.  It is a dark and grey day today and the colours aren't really showing up well.

We also over dyed our two problem silk blank scarves with the too bright yellow.  Mum’s scarf has a yellow centre and pink ends.

And is now dyed with an orange centre and pink ends.  For Sale.

My problem scarf was dyed is dyed lengthwise yellow and green with the green dye 'breaking' into greens and blues.

I dyed the yellow area with large green splashes and I added some purple to the green area.  I just made a huge mess of the scarf, the green didn’t attach but the purple did, I probably should have soaked it in some soda ash first.  But it is ugly and I am going to over dye it again, correctly this time, using grey.  I think that grey is my only chance of covering the purple/green mess.

Final Garden Shot is Black Elderberry - Sambucus 'Black Lace'

A few days ago I made a Gougères, French cheese puffs, in a triskele pattern and I thought it looked pretty enough to share with you.

February Dye Day for Silk Scarf Blanks

It has been such a mild winter this year; it feels like it's been spring since January!  So Mum and I decided to have an early dye day.  We have such fun dyeing silk warps that we decided to do try silk scarf blanks. 

To get started we soaked the twelve silk blanks in soda ash for an hour.  Then we decided on the colours of Procion MX that we wanted to use and mixed up the colours.  The colours were Crimson, Fuchsia, Royal Blue, Green, Yellow, Purple, Grey and Turquoise. 

To dye the blanks we placed a long piece of plastic wrap down enough to double over the scarf.  Because the scarves are so thin we were able to keep the scarves folded in half which makes matching the ends a lot easier!  

We didn't try for perfection, we let the dye move/run were it wanted to go. There were bubbles of air caught between the layers which added to the interest of the scarves.

We tried different techniques like using plastic spoons to drop colour on to the scarves.

We also used sponge brushes to cover large areas of the scarves, or to give large splashes of colour.

We had to wait 24 hours to allow the dye to set, then it was time to wash the dye out. The scarves took a small amount of dye so it took only a couple of rinses for the scarves to be ready.

Mum and I each did a scarf using the yellow colour and it is so eye searingly bright that we want to over dye it!

 

Here are the beauty shots of the scarfs that we still have, two have already found new homes and two are being re-imagined!

Sky blue middle with new leaf green ends.  For Sale.

A stunning blue and purple marbled scarf.  For Sale.

Pink and orange.  For Sale.

A striking purple scarf that looks like a nebula.  For Sale.

Grey and pink.  For Sale.

Pink, blue and grey polka dots.  For Sale.

Fuchsia and purple scarf looks like the flower fuchsia. For Sale.

Turquoise centre with blue ends.  For Sale.