BUNDLE DYED SILK PILLOWCASES
LEVEL: BEGINNER
FOLLOW ALONG WITH OUR INSTRUCTIONS BELOW.
TAG US IN YOUR PROJECTS: @maiwahandprints TO SHOW US YOUR FINISHED PILLOWCASE!
TERMS USED IN THIS PROJECT:
WOF = Refers to the “Weight Of Fibre”. WOF gives a convenient way to state how much dye is needed for a given shade. The measure is a percentage of the dry weight of goods, so it remains constant — regardless if you are dyeing a few ounces or a few kilograms.
MORDANT = Colourfast dyeing usually requires a mordant. Mordants are metallic salts that facilitate the bonding of the dyestuff to the fibre. Cellulose fibres also require a tannin in order to bond well and so the mordanting step for cellulose will include both a mordant and a tannin.
SAFETY:
KEEP POTS AND UTENSILS USED FOR DYEING SEPARATE FROM ITEMS USED FOR COOKING. STORE DYEING INGREDIENTS AWAY FROM FOODS. CLOSE JARS TIGHTLY AND KEEP AWAY FROM CHILDREN AND PETS.
Complete instructions on the use of natural dyes:
SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT USED:
Supplies for this project are in a special PROJECTS section of our website maiwa.com.
Here are links to individual supplies.
Dyes - we used cochineal bugs.
Flowers we used - Marigold, Coreopsis, Black Knight Scabiosa.
Alum (Potassium Aluminum Sulphate - a mordant)
Stainless steel pot & spoon, gloves, string, scale, note paper, mortar and pestle (optional - to grind the cochineal).
STEP 1: WOF AND CALCULATIONS
WOF - means weight of fibre. We are going to mordant with alum at 15% WOF
Weigh the silk pillowcases dry and record the weight. Our silk weighed 104g so we rounded it to 100g.
Place a container on the scale to measure the Alum. Don’t forget to “tare” or “zero” the scale to remove the weight of the container.
We want to mordant Alum at 15% WOF. Here’s our calculation:
15% of the weight of our silk = the weigh of alum we will use.
.15 x 100g = 15g (so, 15g of Alum will be used to mordant our silk).
Do this calculation now, while the fibre is dry. We will need the answer later in step three.
STEP 2: MORDANT WITH ALUM
Add 15g of Alum (from the calculation in step one) to a pot of hot water. Put in enough water for the pillowcases to move freely and start heating to dissolve the alum.
Add the pillowcases to the pot once the alum is fully dissolved.
Heat the pot until it starts to steam, but keep it below a simmer. Keep this temperature for 30 minutes. Stir every so often.
STEP 3: DRY YOUR SILK
Hang to dry or tumble in a warm dryer.
STEP 4: SPRINKLE
Lay your silk on a flat surface. Sprinkle with dye flower petals (see list below for flowers to choose from). For this project we used Marigold, Coreopsis, Dark Knight Scabiosa.
We sprinkled about 15g of cochineal to give that gorgeous burst of pinks and reds!
We layered a second layer of silk onto to get a mirror print on two pieces.
STEP 5: BUNDLE & BIND
Loosely roll the two layers, sprinkling a little bit of dye material into the folds as you go.
Once you have a long loose roll of cloth, rotate it so it lies lengthwise in front of you.
Lay a wooden dowel perpendicular to your roll of fabric (across the width).
Starting at one end, roll the fabric tightly around the dowel until the entire length is secured.
Wrap string firmly around the bundle - keep the tension as tight as you can as this helps create strong contact prints.
Tie off the string securely so the bundle stays closed during steaming or dyeing.
STEP 6: DYE THE BUNDLE
Put your bundle and any leftover dye material in a pot of water and bring to a boil.
Boil your bundle for about 30-60 minutes. Push your bundle down to help release air bubbles.
You may plop it in a bucket of water to help cool it down. Open it up.
Shake off the dye material and rinse in cool water with a neutral soap.
Hang to dry.
* You may want to keep the rinse water, the leftover dye material and the boiling pot water and combine to make an exhaust dye bath.
DYE FLOWERS WE RECOMMEND:
Marigold
Calendula
Coreopsis
Hollyhock
Dark Knight Scabiosa
Golden Rod
Weld
Cosmos
Yarrow
Chamomile
Rudbeckia
Pansies, Violas
Hibiscus
