Tutorial on making Silk Strings
 

I took all the compiled information and posted it on my blog. If you would like to visit it here is the link.

http://copperglassandrecycledtrash.b...-tutorial.html

Thanks for your interest.

Where do you get your silk? I have looked in the local fabric stores and they don't seem to have anything suitable.

Thanks so much, Tracy! I went to bed wondering about these and was going to ask!

I've gotten silk scarves at Dick Blick. They are ready for painting or dyeing. You could cut these up. I know Dharma Trading sells silk pieces.

I wonder if you could use silk ribbon so you could skip the serging step? Just thinking out loud...

I got my silk at Fields Fabrics in Kalamazoo. I believe that they will do mail order if you give them a call. The cost was around $14.00 per yard.

The silk that scarves are made out of is quite a bit lighter weight than the silk I made these out of but will still work. It tends to wad up more when you wear and tye them. I believe the weight of the silk I used was called shantung.

You could use silk ribbon and I am sure it would look great.

It does -- Dharma Trading has silk ribbon and cord (for those of us without sergers, ribbon is a great alternative). Thanks for the tutorial!

Damn, I don't know how to sew. Those are absolutely gorgeous!

Thanks for the info Tracy!

I just bought some scarves and a silk kit from Dharma Trading and they were excellent to deal with. The person taking my order was very helpful. They have a big catalog full of dyes for all kinds of fabrics, lots of clothes to use your color on, silk of various weights, and tons more stuff. They have lots of information on their website too!
http://www.dharmatrading.com/

Suzanne

Here's silk ribbon from Dharma Trading that's ready to dye:

http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/en...=clothing.html

This is silk ribbon cut on the bias with unfinished edges:

http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/en...=clothing.html

Here's silk cord:

http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/en...=clothing.html

I haven't tried dyeing silk ribbon. I've bought stuff from Dharma Trading and have been pleased with their customer service. I haven't had great results when I've tried to heat-set things with an iron, though. I was trying to do larger pieces, and maybe it works better when you're just doing ribbon. I also haven't used the spray-on dye.

Dharma's catalog has directions on how to steam-set dyes in a pot on your stove. It sounds like it ought to be manageable with silk cord or ribbon, particularly if you're going for a "painterly" effect (and therefore don't mind a little bleeding from one color to another.) Has anyone done it?

The silk I am using isn't the light weight stuff that you get on the spools or I would have simply purchased this and been half done with the project. The reason for the heavier silk is because it takes the dye better and has some body to stand up to the wear and tear of being worn.

If you rinse your ribbins after letting the dye dry until the water runs clear I don't think it would matter what method you used to set the dye. The last think you want is a blue neck because extra dye got left in the ribbon. I like to use the iron because it makes them look so pretty and when you are finished dying they are slightly wrinkled and a bit wadded up.

Thanks for this!

I'll have to give this a try then my poor neglected sewing machines and sergers will stop glaring at me:grin:

Hi Emily, rather than a steam pot (traditional way to set dyes on silk), you might try the microwave setting method.

Here's a link to Dharma's instructions, but you can search the internet to find what other people do.
http://www.dharmatrading.com/info/microsilk.html

You can also dye silk using cold water and Procion fiber reactive dyes (available thru Dharma, as well). This is the method I use on all my silk......much easier.

MaryBeth, My serger had been learing at me for a couple of years so I know the feeling.

The microwave method of dye setting is a great idea I'm going to try it tomorrow.

I am also going to try sprinkling salt onto the silk once the dye is on it while wet to get some unusual patterns.

I dyed some new strings last night and have to say that the microwave tip is the best ever. After applying the dye I placed two strings into a sandwich ziploc and put them into the microwave for a min. Took them out and let them dry, Ironed them flat and then ran under water to see if any extra dye would come out and YEAH none did. Thanks for that microwave tip. Here is a photo of the colors I got.

Tracy

Tracy your ribbons are gorgeous!!! Almost makes me want to go get my serger out, but not quite!!! lol
Great tutorial though!!

Tracy,

Those are SWEET!! I'm a hot glue gun and duct tape girl. I only sew patches on my sons vest when needed... whats a serger, lol. Do you think the spool ones would work? This looks like a lot of fun :)

I'm realy looking forward to Barb's house in September!

See you then,

Dawn

Dharma also has silk fabric in various weights!

My daughter's last science fair project involved dyeing and different methods, it was a lot of fun. We used polyester (fake fur), cotton, and a mid weight silk (the latter two from Dharma).

We found that if you do a *cold* (like ice, salt and water, keeping the temp around 30 degrees-the salt keeps it from freezing and lets the water get that cold The fabric dye batch was in a sealed container for this one.) dye bath, you get rich pastel colors, very nice. Hot (near boiling) gave deeper colors, and warm gave lighter shades. We used the procion dyes from Dharma as well. And the kiddo got an Honorable Mention, that we didn't find out about until the next school year at parent/teacher night!

Fabulous Color Tracy!!!!

=D>

I looked at Dharma's Fabrics and I think the crinkle silk would be fun to work with. It would give the strings more depth.

Dawn, I am bringing some strings to the September meeting if you would like some.

Thanks, Terri

Thanks for sharing such great details on the silk strings. Including the sites to find materials is helpful, too. Great work and beautiful colors.

It was ALOT of fun to do at Tracy's!!!!!!!!!!! Makes me think I might need to do this, too!
Sandra

Tracy, I would love some! I'm going to go though my studio for the garage sale too :)

Can you post a link to the crinkle silk?

Thanks, Dawn

Those are awesome. I was going to try and resist but who am I kidding. I already have the serger, though it is covered in dust.

I love the look of the silk ribbons but I'm too cheap to ever buy any. :roll:

Dawn, a link won't do you any good with out a serger you would just have yardage. A serger finishes the edges and there is nothing else out there that will do as nice of a job. Even the cheapest of sergers will most likely do a rolled hem.

Aimee, If you fire up that serger make sure to give it a good shot of oil at all the metal moving on metal parts and don't forget to use all cotton thread. I think all the fun is in dying your own so make some up and have some fun.

See shows you how much I know on the subject :shock:

Good thing I know who makes them :cool:

OMG, something else I have to try
 

Thanks for this thread. Those dyed silk ribbons and cords I've seen at the shows have always seemed very pricey, but gorgeous. You've made this sound quite do-able.

I'm gonna have to try it. I poked around Dharma and found this tut:
http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/en...nav=gifts.html
Has anyone ever tried this stuff? Know if it dries soft enough for jewelry?

Also I saw that they have the silk rolled cord:
http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/en...=clothing.html

Marjo, It doesn't sound like this is dye because you have to "paint" both sides. If it where dye you wouldn't have to do this. I would stick with the dyes you could apply them the same way but you would only need to apply to one side. This would take a lot more time than needed with the dye and they have great dyes on the dharma trading site.

I wonder if you could add some texture to the silk before cutting and serging it by doing a broom handle drying to it? Like you're supposed to do to those skirts. Or would it come out when you added the dye?

I also wonder if you could dye the fabric first then use a contrasting thread to serger with?

I don't think you would want to deal with it to wrinkled while serging it but after you were all done dying it, you could take a bunch of them and do the broom handle drying. I think that could be quite affective.

Tracy, after seeing how beautiful your dyed silk strands came out, I am finally trying it! Since I am serger-less, I bought the half-inch silk ribbon (and Jacquard silk dyes) and can't wait for my new supplies to get here! Thanks for the inspiration!