Dying Playsilks

This is a look into our first go at dying these wonderful Habotai Scarves (Playsilks)
Playsilks are gorgeous natural "toys" for imaginative play...including dancing , wind socks, flags, capes,skirts, blankets, tableclothes, window coverings and wall art.

Above; we created a fort on the deck with wood beams , a bright handmade quilt by our Great great grandma Leota and our new playsilks. The hanging playsilks you see on this fort were used and hammocks for the kids stuffed animals and also serves as some great entertainment blowing in the wind.

We started by covering the table with a $1.50 large plastic roll from Home Depot. We re-use this one cover for all of our major art projects.

Before sitting the kids down I prepared our dye which is just containers of water with 5-10 drops of food coloring. I gave each of the children a paint brush and a little spoon to decorate their scarves.
I let each of the kids decorate one 35 by 35 inch silk My husband and I dyed the large silks. We used a 35x84 and 35x108
After thoroughly spooning all of the dye we wanted on the scarves in the desired design we rung them out in a separate large bowl and placed them in large quart size ziplock bags and placed in the microwave for 2 minutes, then let sit on the counter for 5 minutes to cool down.
The silks were still a bit damp, so we hung them to air dry on hangers overnight and fluffed in the dryer in the morning.

We celebrated our first successful silks dying session by making some homemade cookies.



And here is the gorgeous finished product. The colors are vibrant and lovely and I am completely addicted. I want to make curtains, bed spreads & canopies. I will definitely be having another round of silk dying in the near future. Feel free to suggest new techniques, dyes and of course you can e-mail me for tips :) at YourAngil@Hotmail.com
Ms. Valencia's amazing rainbow birdie dress is handmade by a wonderful Etsy seller
Delany's Den. Valoria's green dress in this photo is also one of her creations. I highly recommend her outfits for everyday wear but are especially perfect for professional photo shoots! I love the bright fabrics!


(Can you tell they've had "How to sit like a lady" lessons recently?) Adorable!
A few more shots of this beautiful dress in action :)

Happy Playsilk coloring!!!