DESIGN & PAINT A SILK SCARF
A practical guide to silk painting for the absolute beginner or more advanced artist.
Silk is a luxurious fabric and, when painted, the colours of the dyes reflect its natural sheen and lustre. It is a natural fabric with unique characteristics. It is one of the strongest natural fabrics, one reason being that when unwound from the cocoon of the silk worm, each strand can measure several metres long. When several strands are woven together they produce a strong thread which is very hardwearing despite its delicate appearance. It has a unique quality inasmuch as it keeps the wearer warm in cold weather and cool in hot. Silk can be woven in various ways causing it to have a variety of textures in its weave as with 'slub' silk, or to be smooth and soft, as in 'habutai', which is a Japanese silk. The latter comes in a variety of weights, the higher the number the thicker and stronger the silk. Habutai silk is ideal for silk painting.
A wooden frame is essential for this type of silk painting. It holds the silk taut and also raises it above the work surface. A purpose built frame which can be quickly assembled is ideal but to cut costs, a picture frame or nailed together timber frame will suffice.
The silk is stretched by pinning to the frame using three-pronged architects pins.
A substance called 'gutta', which can be purchased in a tube with a fine piping nozzle, is used to draw the outline of your design. This is available in both steam fix or iron fix solutions and also in various colours or clear. When the gutta is dry you can continue to the next stage, which is to paint the silk with iron fix or steam fix dyes.
Let's Get Started!
1. Protect the work surface and surrounding area with newspaper or plastic sheeting and don't forget yourself!
2. Tear, never cut, the silk to the required size unless your design needs a cut diagonally, across the warp or weft. Using the tearing method gives a straighter edge that is easier to roll.
3. Stretch the silk whilst pinning it to the frame. The silk is stretched onto a wooden frame using architects pins.
4. Trace or draw the design of your choice and, using a magic embroidery marker pen, transfer your design to the silk.
5. Using clear gutta, take the gutta tube and carefully pipe around the outline of your design ensuring that no gaps are left in the piping. (If there are any gaps the dyes will bleed through when painting, which might not be the desired effect).
6. Leave the gutta to dry or, if you are feeling impatient, use a hair drier.
7. Plan and prepare your palette. The silk paints or dyes can be used directly from the jar or, if required, may be mixed together to give a wider choice of colour palette. They can also be diluted with clean water to make lighter shades.
8. Using a soft, good quality paintbrush (full bristles going to a point), begin to add colour to your design. (You will find that it isn't necessary to paint right to the gutta line as the silk absorbs the paint and it flows quite freely.) A brush of this type will hold a large quantity of paint and is useful for painting large and also more delicate areas.
9. The design may be enhanced be sprinkling table salt, rock salt or even small splashes of clean water onto chosen areas of the wet, painted silk, watching the results as the patterns emerge before the paint is dry. Below is a sample of the effects obtained by the salting technique. You can use this technique on its own as a method of fabric decoration.
10.When completely dry move the frame away from the painting area to a dry area and remove the pins. If you have used salt, rub it gently off the silk.
11.Lay the silk, design side down on an ironing surface, cover with fine cotton cloth and press with a hot iron for about one minute, moving the iron constantly. (This will fix the colours.)
12. Into a clean bowl pour hand-hot water with a squeeze of shampoo and wash gently for two to three minutes to remove the gutta. Rinse thoroughly in clear water, squeeze and press again to dry. The vibrant colours should jump out at you! You have now successfully completed the first stage of your scarf project. Well done!
Hand-Rolling of Silk. To be truly successful in the production of silk accessories you need to learn the art of hand-rolling silk.This is the traditional way of finishing scarves and once mastered will give you a sense of satisfaction when completing a garment.
Sewing machines are used by some people but the difference in quality is quite noticeable! The technique of hand- rolling silk to produce a neat edge to your garment has to be practiced if it is to be perfected. If you find it impossible to achieve a neat finish there are many silk artists and seamstresses who provide a finishing service in this technique for a reasonable charge.
Instructions for hand-rolling silk.
1. Wrap and secure a piece of cloth around a large pebble weight and pin one corner of your silk to this material. This is your weight to hold the fabric taut.
2. Have a damp sponge or cloth to hand.
3. Thread a fine needle with a length of silk thread.
4. Hold an edge of the silk in one hand and with the thumb and dampened finger of the other hand take the silk edge and roll it towards you. With practice this should form a roll of silk.
5. Holding the roll securely take the needle and thread and attach it to secure the roll with two to three tiny stitches.
6. Next, take the needle through the centre of the roll for a few centimetres and then out again to form another stitch.
7. You need to be continually dampening your fingers to grip the silk and roll it evenly down one length.
8. Going round corners can be difficult, it is just a matter of rolling the silk, attaching tiny stitches and holding the corner fold in place as you work.
9. Continue in this way until you have completed the sewing.
10. It is not necessary to press the edges of silk when it is hand rolled. At this stage your scarf is ready to wear if you want to keep it as a simple, basic garment but you may embellish it if you wish.
Ideas For Embellishment.
There are many ways you can decorate your scarf to make it even more luxurious, you just have to use your imagination!
1. Knot a macrame edging finishing with a fringe. Cut the ends short and stubby or leave them long and flowing. It's up to you!
2.Crochet an edging using crochet or embroidery threads. Make the design as simple or as complicated as you like.
3. Embroider the silk with embroidery silks or glitter threads by hand or using a sewing machine. (When embroidering sheer fabrics by machine it is important to remember that you need to back the material with a soluble, paper-like backing which can be purchased from a haberdashery department or craft shop. This will stop the material from sliding under the machine foot, it also avoids thread tangles between the needle and the bobbin. The paper backing can be removed, leaving just the stitching when you have completed the embroidery.)
4. Embroider areas of the scarf and attach tiny beads.
5. Construct and attach a silk thread and bead fringe.
6. Purchase several metres of silk tubing, paint with silk paint, cut into half metre lengths, knot or stitch onto scarf ends and thread a large bead onto each end of tubing.A fringe design using painted silk tubing and beads.
7.Before hand-rolling the ends of the scarf cut both ends of the scarf on the diagonal to form points and then hem them. Make a short length of twisted cord from embroidery silks, cut in half and knot to avoid fraying and attach one end of each cord to the two pointed scarf ends. Produce two tassels from the same silk thread and attach these to the cord ends. Your scarf is now complete.
These are just a few ideas to get your imagination flowing.Start practising. Good Luck!