Shameless brag: look at the playsilks I dyed!

[mommyoftwo]

I ordered dyes and white playsilks a while ago but just now got around to dying them. I'm quite pleased with how they turned out and I really wish that I had more to dye. I have lots of ideas that I would like to try out. I did one more but Amelia is currently napping with it (she's superhero Maya, lol). Now I just need to figure out who else might need playsilks for a gift so I can make some more. ;)

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[elliput]

Beautiful!

[ctmom]

beautiful!!!

What "recipe" did you follow and where did you get the dye and silks from??

Thanks!

Mary
dd#1 2/01
dd#2 12/03

[mommyoftwo]

I got the playsilks and procion dyes from www.dharmatrading.com. I didn't really follow a "recipe" but kinda just winged it. That's the way I do many things and they usually come out great. I soaked the playsilks in vinegar for about 20 minutes or so and then put them in a ziplock bag. I poured the dye over the playsilk until I was happy with the result and then microwaved it for two minutes (you have to stop it every 30 sec or so or else the bag will explode). I didn't have a green dye so I just mixed my own using yellow and blue. Plus the colors blend and create new colors on the silk. Everything I did was low water immersion where you use just enough dye to get the coverage you want. It was a lot easier than I expected and I got a lot more adventerous after the first couple of silks.

ETC: typo

[Corie]

You did an AWESOME job!!!

Do you live anywhere near Rhode Island?? Want to come over
for a playsilk dye party? :)

[mommyoftwo]

I wish I did. I live in Ohio though. :( If I'm ever in Rhode Island, we'll get have to get together and dye some. :)I had so much fun and wish I had more people to make them for because I could do a TON of them and not get bored of it.

[heidiann]

WOW, those are really pretty. I was thinking of getting jillian some for christmas i might have to try dying them on my own. (o.k. that sounds real good but is it realistic, I doubt it LOL...)

Heidi
Mom to Jillian 10/20/05

[MommyAllison]

Wow those turned out so great! I am thinking of doing playsilk dying at DD's second birthday and letting the guests take theirs home as favors - after seeing yours I am super excited for next year's birthday! :)

Allison
Mama to DD 11/05

[ribbit1019]

They look great! Is the last one the Colbalt/Deep Purple? Sorry I had to go in a rush today. I wonder if this would be another thing to add to the co-op list??


Christy
Wife to Richard
My Waterbabies
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[mommyoftwo]

Cobalt blue/deep purple/lilac. It turned out pretty good I think. I think playsilks would be a great idea for a co-op. I'm sure there are many capable people to make them, but I would be more than willing, lol. I'm having a great time with it. I hope your first day of work went well.

[dules]

Those look great! I have a similar box in my basement that you're inspiring me to go break out. :) Maybe as favors for DD's party, hmmm...

What size silks did you use?

Mary

[mommyoftwo]

I used 35x35 silks. I'm probably going to make some as favors for Amelia's b-day party which is coming up. If you do it yourself it's quite reasonably priced and would be a great favor.

[jennifer_r]

ALREADY thinking of DD's second b-day!!!! Very organized!!!

Not to hijack the thread but can you believe our two little ones are turning 1. I've got mixed feelings about it :( .


Jennifer

Mom to:
Christopher 12/29/89
Adelaide 8/23/04
Bronwyn 11/9/05

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[jennifer_r]

Wow, those are gorgeous. You just might inspire me to try dying them. What I like about yours is that you have multiple colors - I guess when you do your own, your play silks can be more "creative" looking other than the standard 1 color often used.

Thanks for posting.

Jennifer

Mom to:
Christopher 12/29/89
Adelaide 8/23/04
Bronwyn 11/9/05

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[MommyAllison]

LOL her first birthday is still mostly unplanned so I'm not THAT organized! :) And yes, I too am in denial about the upcoming birthday. PMing ya

Allison
Mama to DD 11/05

[Corie]

Jessica,

I lived in Ohio for 18 years! My Dad is still there.

You did a great job on the playsilks! They really turned
out beautifully! :)

[jgriffin]

Those are beautiful! Dying is so addictive, isn't it? :)

[Wife_and_mommy]

Wow! Those are beautiful! I think I'm going to give it a try.


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[kboyle]

jess, those look great!

either i have to order some plain silks & dye or we have to get together and have our own little party!

[mommyoftwo]

Works for me. I'm going to order more very soon so I can make them for Amelia's b-day party. I hope you are feeling better.

[mommyoftwo]

I would be careful with that. It's a very messy project if you aren't careful. If you don't mind pastel colors, you can use kool-aid and then it wouldn't be a big deal. If you do use regular dyes, make sure you put down plenty of newspaper and put your dd in clothes you don't care about. Also, rubber gloves are a good idea unless you don't mind colored fingers. The dye does wear off your skin fairly quickly though.

[Lynnie]

Those are fantastic !

I am going to try this, but don't want to get too many colors to start. I really like the ones you used - which ones were they ?

And, about how many silks do you think could be made from the smallest size procion dye you can buy there ? Just trying to figure it out. Would love to make these for DSs's preschool !

[mommyoftwo]

I believe that 2oz is the smallest amount of dye you can get and it will do a LOT of silks especially if you do the low immersion technique that I did. I had 7 colors and mixed a green from a blue and yellow. I could have used even fewer colors and still done a lot of different things but here is what I have: bright yellow, brilliant blue, deep purple, cobalt blue, baby pink, amethyst, lilac. If you want darker colors use more dye; pastel colors use less. You really can vary things a lot. Let me know if you have more questions.

[Lynnie]

thanks !

I may get the boiling dyes to do a couple solid colors - maybe red and green, and blue and silver for hannukah and christmas for the school, but I love how you did the tye dye effect on yours !

I am not very crafty, so forgive the question if it is silly, but with the procion dyes, did you just pour it straight on from the container, or did you mix it with water or something first ?

[mommyoftwo]

The dye is a powder that you mix with water to make the dye. You use the same dyes for the tye dye effect as you do for solid colors. I used approx a tsp of dye per 4 oz. of water. I think I could do hundreds of playsilks with the seven dyes that I have but that might be a bit of an exaggeration. It does take more dye to do solid colors in a pot but you could still get a ton of silks done with minimal amounts of dye I think. If you do them in the washing machine, it takes quite a bit more dye but you can do a bunch all at once. It just depends on how you want to do things.