Summer Shawl

Hey All,

Todays post details my latest project, a hand dyed silk shibori shawl! I made this particular shawl for a client needing a coral colored, lightweight shawl to wear for a beach wedding. Check out the steps below for a fun project that yields a really cool textural effect (see the scarfs I made below:))

Okay, let's get started!

Start by laying out your fabric (I used lightweight habotai silk, it's sheer and has beautiful drape) and cut to just larger than the desired final size, the fabric will shrink slightly during the dyeing process.

For this project I used a color swatch to match my dye bath to so that it would be the perfect shade.

Assemble your dyeing elements: bucket of hot water, dye (for this project I used Rit Petal Pink as my base dye and followed directions written on the bottle, I then mixed in fiber reactive dye until I had the perfect shade), stir stick, and some pre cut fabric strips to test the shade of dye you have created. It's pry a good idea at this stage to wear gloves so that you don't end up with bright pink hands:)

Wet the fabric and then place in the dye bath. By wetting the fabric first it helps to create an even surface for the dye to adhere to. Stir fabric and dye solution and leave in the dye bath until just darker than the desired final shade, the fabric will lighten upon drying. When ready to take out of the dye bath make sure to rinse in cool water until water runs clear. I also used a color fixing agent during the wash process to make sure of colorfastness and keep the color from bleeding onto other objects in the future.

Since it's the summer you might as well take advantage of the lovely sun and hang dry your fabric:) (Special Note: While the fabric is drying this is also a great time to make a lovely summer cocktail, like sangria, yummy!!)

To create the fun textured effect on the fabric, ready a piece of PVC pipe, any size will do!

Lay out the fabric and fold in half/quarters until fabric size is manageable for the size of PVC pipe you chose. Then proceed to wrap the fabric around the PVC pipe (overlapping is ok, at this point not all the fabric will fit on the PVC pipe, not to worry thats where our handy-dandy string comes into play!)

Start by tying your string tightly around the fabric on the pipe and securing it by going around the pipe keeping tension on the string at all times. When you have a few rounds of string on the pipe, condense the fabric by pushing it together and continue to wrap the scarf around the PVC pipe and secure with the string until the entire scarf is condensed on the pipe (see below).

 Place the PVC pipe into your second dye bath. This shawl was done to be monochromatic but this second dye bath is a great time to add other colors for a fun contrasting fabric. Leave the fabric in the dyebath  until you are happy with the amount of saturation and then LET THE FABRIC DRY ON THE PVC PIPE! This step will ensure that the fabric, when dry, will retain the 3-dimensional texture that makes this technique so unique. Once dry (like bone dry!!) clip the string, unroll the scarf, and....

VOILA!!!!:)

Happy Tuesday All!