Last year I wrote this post on dyeing silk scarves with silk ties. I thought it was time for an update especially since I was going to be demonstrating the technique on one of our local television stations.
Here I am on the set of the WEHT Local Lifestyles with Ange, the host, yesterday before my segment.
If you’d like to see my dyeing silk scarves with ties tutorial on WEHT, here is the link to the segment.
Hubby was also on – making mustard!
Ron and Ange taste the mustard while Dave looks on. Here is the link to Dave’s segment:
So let’s get to the tutorial on dyeing scarves with silk ties.
First of all, you have to use silk ties. Be sure and check the small end of the tie which shows the fabric content. Polyester ties will not work. You can find lots of ties at thrift stores.
Next, I highly recommend testing your ties before you use them. Follow the same procedure I’ve outlined below, but just cut small pieces of the ties and use a piece of silk. Here is an example of how different ties look when dyed. This will help you in designing your scarves.
The black and white tie at the top printed mostly light with some green. The purple and blue tie ended up bright blue circles. It’s amazing how they dye.
Here is a list of what you will need:
- silk ties
- silk scarf or fabric (dharmatrading.com)
- cotton fabric cut a little wider and longer than the silk you are dyeing
- scissors
- string, rubber bands, or sinew
- dowel, stick or skewer
- pot for water
- water
- white distilled vinegar
- weight for holding down fabric in pot
- towel
Let’s get started. Cut your cotton fabric a bit longer and wider than your silk piece. It will serve as the carrier for this project. This “carrier” can be used over and over again so hold on to it after you are finished dyeing. Place silk scarf or silk fabric right side up on top of the cotton carrier.
Fold the silk scarf in half and put a pin on the carrier at the fold. This will show you how far you will be placing the ties.
Unfold the scarf, cut your ties and place on the silk scarf.
Continue placing your scarves until you get to the halfway mark and your pin.
Now cover the cut ties with the other half of the scarf.
Then cover that part of the scarf with the other half of the carrier fabric.
Now take your dowel or skewer and slowly rollup the fabric.
Take your time doing this. The ties will shift, but the slower you roll, the less shift. (I need to add here, if you are into perfection, this is not the art for you. It’s pretty impossible for the ties not to shift a bit when rolled.)
Once rolled, tie to keep together. I use artificial sinew, but you could use string or rubber bands.
Remove the dowel.
Tie a few more times and the bundle is ready to be dyed.
Add water and 2 – 3 tablespoons of distilled white vinegar to a pot and bring it to a boil.
Once you have a boil, add your fabric bundle.
Use something to push it to the bottom of the pot so it’s completed covered with water. I use a piece of pvc pipe I also use for indigo dyeing, but you could use a spoon or a stick.
If the bundle floats, put something on top of it to keep it under water. I used a glass pie plate and a glass measuring cup.
Before I go any further, any thing you use for this technique – pan, glass pie plate, measuring cup, spoon – never can be used in the kitchen again. They will be part of your dyeing equipment.
Now let this bundle boil for 20 minutes. Of course, you can go longer if you’d like, but I found 20 minutes was adequate.
Pull the bundle out of the hot water – be careful – and put on an old towel.
At this point the bundle is really hot. You can let it cool down, but if you are like me you want to see it right away!
Cut your strings.
And then unroll your surprise.
Let the scarf dry and then iron. With the ironing you have set the dye so it’s safe to wear. However, I like to hand wash it in mild detergent, rinse, let dry and iron again.
Here is the above scarf on my mannequin.
That’s it – easy peasy! As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, do a test dye with small pieces of your ties. It’s well worth the time and effort. Otherwise you might end up with a scarf like the one above. It’s pretty, but too light.
Lastly, if you have a silk scarf that you don’t particularly like, you could dye over it with these ties. Here is a scarf I had dyed green and really hated it. Then I dyed it with ties and it changed completely.
This is such a fun technique. It would be a great gift and a good way to recycle those unwanted ties. Thanks for dropping by.
So the “dye” part of this process comes from just white vinegar and water and hot water? No dye required because the silk ties work with the bath, correct?
Hi Sue, The dye comes from the ties. The vinegar and hot water work as the mordant to bind the tie colors to the silk. Pretty amazing. The first time I did this I was so surprised! You can use the ties a second time, but the color is weaker. I have an example on the bottom of this post: https://lyndaheines.blog/2015/02/tuesday-recap-thrift-store-threes/ Thanks for your question and stopping by.
I love doing this technique! There are some amazing ties out there! Not sure who would actually wear some of them. 🙂
Diane in NH recently posted..September 2016
I didn’t realize that you and Dave are STARS!
Diane, I know what you mean. I bought 10 ties the other day at the thrift store and a couple of them were absolutely beautiful but I couldn’t imagine any man wearing them. In fact, the guy checking me out said they were ugly!!
Sherrie, Ha ha. Not sure about stars!! It was fun. That was my 5th appearance on the show this past year and Dave’s first. He did such an awesome job. We’ll be back next month for a couple more segments!
Did you pre-wash your scarves?
Angela, No I don’t. Dharma Trading says to do so, but regardless of how I dye them, I never prewash them.
Lynda is there a technical term for this process or technique name?
Shannon, Not that I know of. It’s just using silk ties (or really any silk with patterns) to dye silk.
do you remove the lining of the tie?
Deb, Yes!
Can you do several bundles at a time in the vinegar water? Do you need to change the water between batches?
Gwendolyn, Yes, you can do several bundles at a time. I’ve done two. You could do more if you have a real large pot. I would change the water between the batches because it’s the mordant that holds the dye to the fabric. Have fun!
one of my ties did not transfer to the scarf. If I redye just that part will it remove some of the original color from the scarf?
Any idea how to fix that part of the scarf?
Tina, I doubt boiling the scarf will remove all of the dye from the ties you have already done, but might mute the colors. You could stamp over the scarf including that area or better yet, overdye the scarf. Of course, that will mute all of the colors. Just an idea. If you don’t want to change the rest of the scarf, as I mentioned earlier, stamp over it including the whole scarf. I teach a silk scarf dyeing class where I use instant set dyes (Colorhue) and that area could be painted with the dyes. Lots of options. If you’re interested, here is the link to the class: https://lyndaheines.com/p/easy-silk-dyeing Good luck!
Hi Lynda,
I’m going to dye silk with ties next week! One question I have for you . . . I bought silk yardage from Ddharma. Should I wash the silk first as I would prepare cotton for dyeing?
Thanks – love your results!
Ellen
Ellen, I never wash silk before dyeing. I always do with cotton, but not with silk. Have fun!!
What kind of metal is the pot you are using to dye silk ties? Does it matter?
Jean, It’s just an old metal pot I found at the thrift store. I don’t think it matters at all what type of pan you use. Thanks for dropping by.