You know I love fabric and surface design, but I’ve always gravitated toward cotton. Really, to tell you the truth, I have been scared to death of silk. It’s such a lovely fiber, but I’ve been so afraid I’d mess it up.
Then last year I took an awesome silk painting class from Evi Slaby. I posted here and here about that fabulous class. Evi helped me walk through my fear of silk and taught me a lot about silk and how it takes dyes. Through that class, Evi and I became friends and ended up displaying our work together in our Colorful Friendship exhibit this past January. Unfortunately, Evi will be moving to the Chicago area – a big loss for our area and for me! If you live in the Chicago area and have a chance, check out one of Evi’s classes.
That being said, I’ve been playing a lot with silk. And I have so enjoyed it. I am dyeing them using Colorhue dyes. Check out this basic tutorial I posted a couple years ago.
Here is a closer look at four of them.
It’s funny. I would finish one scarf and think it was the best one so far. Then when I finished the next one I would tell myself it was my favorite! I really do need to play more with silk.
Meanwhile I’m still thinking small. I made this in a class several weeks ago. I definitely will be making more of these.
And some Boro Balls. My hand stitching sure needs some help! Practice, practice, practice!
The temperatures here are changing as autumn moves into our area. I do love this time of the year. As mentioned earlier, I’m looking forward to playing more with silk. I plan to dye some cotton shirts before it gets too cold in my dye studio (garage). Working on my hand stitching is also high on that list.
What are your artsy plans for the coming months? I’d love to hear from you. Have a creative day!
Love your scarves! I was thinking of using more colorhue dyes until I checked out the prices… yikes! Think I’ll stick to procion mx and dye-na-flow. Meanwhile, I have lots of ideas for projects, but am focused mainly on being stocked up for my upcoming shows – 4 more for the year, then I can play!
Hi Judy! Yep, the colorhue dyes are quite expensive, but they are sooo much fun to play with!! I do plan on using some of my fiber reactive dyes on them too. I keep forgetting about dye-na-flow. Thanks. I need to do that too!! Four shows? OMG! You are busy!! Thanks for dropping by.
Hi Lynda- Love those scarves, they look so soft and rich! I have lots of plans…as you know! Book related…so book signings coming up early next yr. I have new classes to accompany one of them and that requires some time in the studio painting, printing and stitching! Can’t wait!
Julie, Sounds like you will be crazy busy coming up. Really looking forward to your book. Thanks for stopping by.
lovely,,, on one looks like you stamped a design.. what kind of “paint” did you use for that process? love your helpful hints and you have beautiful scarves.
Hi Vivian! I used colorhue dyes on all scarves. Thank you for dropping by and commenting.
Thank you for the update. My daughter is a high school art teacher, so I will share this with her too.
Lee. Thanks for stopping by.
The scarves are beautiful, and that tiny pendant exquisite…yummmmmmmmmmmm.
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Win, Thanks!!
Thank you Lynda for all the links to previous posts. I peeked at them all.
Eileen Gidman recently posted..Do You Ever Do Something Just For Yourself?
Eileen, Thank you for stopping by and reading my posts.