posted
Belle, I have some questions for you. With those dyes you linked, when doing salt painting on the silk skarves you linked, are the dyes ready to use or would I need to do something to them (I know you've mentioned soda ash and urea in past things, but not sure what dyes and that sort of thing)? Do you just dye one side of the fabric? And how do you finish it, the website says steaming but I'm having issues finding good techniques on this. Do you think 3 or 4 bottles of dye (different colors) would be enough for 12 skarves, most would be two or three colors each. Lastly, would the same dyes and just brushing them on with foam brushes work for the Devore Satin skarves listed on the silk skarf page? I've always loved fabric dying and wanted to try stuff like this.
Thats all I can think of for now, but I might keep them coming. My mom and I both think this could be a really good gift idea.
The Setasilk paints used on the scarves I did are not dyes, they're paints only so there is no need for urea or for soda ash. The setasilk paint can be set with a hot iron. It takes a while, in that you have to hold the iron on the scarf for a few seconds before moving on to the next spot but it's easier than steaming.
I have been wanting to order some of the devore satin scarves, but haven't yet so I don't know how they'll behave. I've used foam brushes with the setasilk paints with good results.
you should only have to really paint one side, because the silk is so thin the paint will quickly be absorbed. You will have to salt both sides, though. The best thing to do is wet the scarf first, so the paint can spread across the fabric easily.
You can of course use dyes with the silk scarves instead of the paint. The salting technique won't work as well, but you can still do some stuff.
If you're interested and just want to try some stuff first before buying, email me. I'll be happy to send you some powdered dyes and a scarf for you to play with, Lord knows I've got plenty of dyes and plenty of scarves sitting around here unused. all I'd ask is you send me a couple bucks to cover shipping.
bamawards @ alltel.net (take out spaces, naturally)
Edit: I just checked my stock and I can do one better, I think. I have a silk satin handkerchief you can have. That would probably be closer to the devore that you're looking at, breyerchic. Let me know if you're interested.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
Thanks, I might take you up on that one. That's pretty much how I thought it worked, but just thought I should make sure.
Edit to add: There's one more question, on the sight I thought I saw (but now can't find) it saying that if you buy 12 of several different silk skarves they'll still give you the discount, did I make that up? I'm probably going to get a few of the haboi(sp?) skarves and at least one of the devore satin ones.
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
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posted
actually any combination of silk or cotton items will get you the discount. Why do you think I have so many silk scarves laying around?
When I'm ordering stuff it's usually cheaper for me to add one or two habotai scarves and get the discount than not to, so I'm almost always adding on a few scarves here and there - which is why I have so many, and I pretty much consider I got them for free.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
Let's just turn this into a dharma trading fan club thread, shall we?
But I was thinking about everyone who mentioned cheap gifts.
These purses dye up fabulous. I did one in hot pink dye, just one color, submersion technique, easy as it comes, and my daughter loved it.
I bought several of these cotton throws with the intention of dyeing them and never did. They are so beautiful and so soft I've just used them as is. Compare them to throws that cost $50-$60 at department stores, they are that nice.
silk cut velvet scarves are absolutely gorgeous. I've never failed to sell any I made and once one sold for a price that made me blush, when I remembered how much I'd paid for it. You want to wow someone with a gift, dye them a cut velvet scarf. The 14x72 is big enough to tie around the waist (at least my daughter's little waist!) and she wears them that way to school sometimes and just soaks up the compliments. If you buy 12 they're only $6.37 a piece and they look like you paid over $40-$50 for them, trust me. And yes, I've sold them for that high.
One thing I would recomend, if you want to buy stuff from Dharma, get together with other people who might be interested. You can combine the order and get a bigger discount, and you can order the smallest amount of powdered dye, and then split that up as well. Two ounces is more than you think. I've got 2 ounce jars I bought more than 2 years ago and still haven't used it all.
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posted
Kara, of course I will, I'm getting a few sample things from Belle and I'm going to try those before I order, but when i'm getting close to ready I'll let you know. We'll talk about it soon.
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posted
Well, we should probably order ahead of time so that we can use all of our valuable in the same location time actually doing it.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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Well, I use the fiber reactive procion dyes. Yes you can use them on silk, but the colors shift. In other words, the color cards aren't as reliable for silk as for cotton. You gotta be careful, but if you're just having fun and don't care about exact results, then it's no big deal.
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posted
Oh dear. I just realized that I can get differnt things, and as long as I end up with twelve items, I'll get the discount. I'm going to be spending so much money on this site.
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I will warn you that getting a true red is nigh impossible, even on cotton. On silk, forget it.
I've never gotten a true red. I've gotten lots of pinks, and some brick reds and rusts but never a true, fire engine red.
Same story with black. Dyeing something black takes so much black dye you would be better off buying something already black. In fact, dharma sells things in black, for that reason, I think.
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Neither of those surprise me, and since I tend to be happier on the side of orange or pink that's good.
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