Showing posts with label Silk Bundles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Silk Bundles. Show all posts

Monday, May 6, 2013

Traditions and Silk Dyed Easter Eggs

Both my children are big on the Holiday traditions, no matter how old they get.  They still want their dad to hide eggs in the yard for them to find on Easter Morning.  I believe he hid over 100 eggs this year, so the kids really had a challenge finding them all.  They are so competitive,  probably because whoever collects the most gets a $20 bill, plus this year he hid another $20 in one of the eggs.  Danielle has never won, but this year she was determined and more focused then usual.  Zach found the $20 in one of his eggs but Dan collected the most by 2 eggs  :)   That left poor Stephan (Dani's boyfriend) with nothing but a fun time.
I like to run after them and watch the craziness; the pushing and shoving, the yelling and screaming, it's just so good to watch them be kids again.

Usually we dye our eggs with food coloring but this year I read somewhere that silk ties work well to dye eggs with.  Below are a few of the results.

You start with old silk ties that you cut up into one large piece then into squares.  You also cut up the inner white core to use as an outer wrap.
Then you wrap the silk tightly around the egg, using string to bind it with.

Next I wrapped the inner cores around the silk wrapped eggs and rubber banded them up, and into a pot of vinegar water to boil for a good 25 minutes.
I let my eggs sit outside to dry overnight, them unwrapped them the next day.  I love that the cores dyed as well.  I read that you can reuse your silk pieces to make more eggs, that there is plenty of dye in those ties.  I  sent my silks as a gift to fiber artist Nat across the pond.  I used it as stuffing around a fragile ceramic candlestick I sent her.
Hope you enjoyed this tutorial.  Next year I'm going to try eco-dyeing my eggs with flowers and plant material.  Should be good, right Kaya!

Friday, January 18, 2013

Woven Silk Eco-Dye Samplers


I showed you last month these gorgeous silks that my 2nd year 3-d kids eco-dyed.  Now this month, they have ripped them into strips and woven them back together again, ala Jude Hill of Spirit Cloth fame.  They stitched them onto a thin back fabric with perle cottons and the result is spectacular.

This one was done by senior Angela Wan.  The silks she choose have so much shimmer to them which really accentuates her weaving.
This next one was made by junior Josh Berger.  He chose to sew with a highly contrasting cotton which gives him a powerful, striking result.  And lastly we have the work of  Senior Ashley Chowdhury.  Hers was my personal favorite because she choose to leave her tails dangling.  I always seem to gravitate to dangling ends  LOL

There is still more to do.  You will have to stay tuned to see where we take them next  :)

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Eco-Dyed Silk Bundles - My Students

Thanks to the great class I took this summer with India Flint, I was able to implement her silk bundle technique with my students, and they loved it.  I'm not sure what the funnest part was; the wandering around the school picking up windfall, and maybe pucking a flower or two, or the opening of the bundles at the end.  All's I know is that they turned out remarkably well for the first time teaching this unit.
I did the assignment with my Beginning 3-D students.  Here are Bhavi and Priyanka above and Alison below laying out their designs on various types of silks I got them from Dharma Trading Co.

I've been collecting twigs all summer for the kids to wrap their bundles around.  Then into the dye-baths they go.

Eucalyptus

Ornamental Plum

and Raspberries (I cheated and added just a touch of Wine Rit Dye)

The unveiling.

and some close-ups.  Aren't they gorgeous!

Here are what the bundles look like in the dye-bath, and after they come out to cool.
What was really fun was to hang them on a line outside my room for the rest of the school to see.
Below is a little dye garden I have going for the kids.
More about that tomorrow.