Silk/Salt dyeing - second layer

After letting the scarf from yesterday's post dry, I scraped off the salt and found minor markings. I used light colored dyes, and silk salt I have had for years, and the result was not satisfactory overall. But I know from experience that sometimes, further layers or techniques can improve a project. So today, I mixed up some lemon yellow and bright green dyes, and pulled turquoise, royal blue and lilac from my stash. I also dug out my rock salt. Instead of painting on the new layer, I used an eye dropper to drizzle the dyes over the original layer of dyes. At first, it looked a little dorky, but since I have the stretcher system slightly elevated on one end, the dyes are spreading slowly over the surface of the scarf. I didn't saturate the silk, just left it damp. After applying the dyes, I sprinkled the rock salt on sparingly. Here is how it looks now, as it slowly dries in my garage:

I'll post pix when it dries, and decide then if I need to do more or if it's ready to steam set the dyes. I am also anxious to try using alcohol/water to create interesting effects, but not sure if I will do that on this scarf or save that for another experiment! More to come...

Silk/salt dyeing

Well, I have finally got my act together and am beginning to learn how to dye silk scarves and use salt to create interesting patterns. Thanks to Kim Barron's great blog post, I learned how to create a stretcher system, so I have my first attempt 'curing' in the garage:

I must admit that 'painting' on the dye instead of pouring or squirting was a bit of a challenge for me. I'm not thrilled with some of the blobs that are forming, but I'm going to see it through and find out how the salt works, then try some more. I'm sure it will become easier as I go along, and I promise to post more pictures as I go. As I recall, my first few tie-dye shirts were not works of art either, but I kept at it, so this is just a learning curve! If you're reading this and have done silk/salt scarves, I'd love to hear any suggestions you might have!

Fun with silk dyeing

I have been wanting to try using citric acid instead of vinegar to prepare silk scarves for dyeing, and finally did some experimenting yesterday. I had a few scarves I had purchased for a class earlier this year that I never got around to using, so I decided to try them. Two were Habotai, one was silk satin. I tied and dyed the silk satin, but wasn't thrilled with the outcome.. not because of the citric acid... because I didn't apply enough dye and there was too much white remaining. The next one, a long habotai, I soaked in the citric acid solution, scrunched up on a piece of plexiglass, then applied 3 dye colors using an eye dropper. Then I sprinkled on some rock salt and let the scarf set for awhile before gently placing in a zip lock bag and nuking for about 2 minutes. That one worked very well:

I tried this technique of dyeing on cotton earlier this year, and was pleased with the results, but had not thought to try it on silk until now. Needless to say, I will be doing more like this! Now I'm trying it on another long scarf of silk satin... the markings aren't so pronounced, but I still like it. However, I do think I will need to get some more Habotai scarves to play with as well!
The good news is, citric acid has no odor.. the vinegar darn near drove my hubby out of the house when I used it to pre-soak the silk, so harmony has been restored to our happy home!