Sunday, October 21, 2012

Dyeing Silk Paj Fabric

Yards and yards of silk Paj...



...plus one easy-to-use Jacquard dye packet...


 
...equals this beautiful result.

 
A lovely, pale periwinkle-grey piece of silk is born...

...and it was super easy!!




It's not quite as blue as in the above photo... 


...nor quite as grey as in these photos, either...

...but somewhere in-between.

 
To prepare for a garment class with Linda Veilleux...

...I needed to dye 15 yards of silk Paj.

Not wanting to mess about with the process too much...

...I used a 'direct dye' that came in a melt away sachet...

...(no loose dye on your skin or in the air that you breathe!)

The dye is thrown into the washing machine along with the silk and some vinegar...

...and only one packet was needed to dye this entire length of fabric.

The literature says that it's not quite as colorfast as traditional acid dyes...

...but since this fabric is destined to be made into a nuno felt jacket, anyway...

...I don't think it will matter all that much if it fades a bit over time. :)

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7 comments:

Rachel said...

15 yards? What on earth will you be making?

Elizabeth said...

I can't wait to see what you turn 15 yards of silk into!

Kelly said...

What a beautiful color! I have used the IDyes also and love the way they work for silk fabric. Where did you find your silk? I am excited to see what you make in your class!

Heather Woollove said...

Rachel-It was 'insurance', really...just so I would have enough to make whatever my fevered brain might come up with!
Elizabeth-I'm quite pleased with my finished jacket...posts soon!
Kelly-Dharma...5mm silk habotai. XXO

WonderWhyGal said...

I love that color. I would have had a hard time dying the silk one color. I LOVE dying silk and watching it take the dye in to create art.

Terriea Kwong said...

Sound easy to dye with. Is it expensive? For nuno felt clothing really needs quite big size of fabric and spaces. Can't wait to see how you make the jacket. The compost outfit is so pretty. Let it stay outside is too lonely !

Heather Woollove said...

Andrea--I am not a dyer, I confess. I love multiple shades and colors and what you create in your dye pot, but I will leave it (mostly) to you experts for now!!
Terriea--Not expensive at all and one packet dyed all of my yardage, but I know that YOU would do something much more interesting with silk prior to making it into a jacket like this!!!! :)