My First Time Dying Silk Yarns

Salam and hello everyone. I learned silk batik panting but working with the yarn is new to me and here is the result of my first experience doing this. I showed my work to the owner of a famous silk shop and he said he is impressed with my designs. It was very encouraging hearing his comments considering these are my very first  time playing with this luxury fiber. I used iDye from Jacquard diluted in water/vinegar solution (1 liter of water for 100 ml white vinegar).

Picture above from left:

1. The light purple/light green was pre-soaked in warm water for 1 hour, painted, set aside for 1 hour without steaming, hang to dry (no steam, no heat). I washed the silk after it dried to check the color, no dye in the water at all.

2. The dark purple, yellowish and green was pre-soaked in water at room temperature for 1 night, painted,  steam 30 minutes, hang to dry.   

3. The red was pre-soaked for 2 hours. I put the dye inside a pot with 1.5 liters of water to dissolve, once it is warm right before boiling, I carefully lay the skein inside the pot and turn the fire very low to prevent it from boiling for 30 minutes then let it cool. Once it was cool I was it with cold water 3 times. 

4. The red and blue same method as no. 3.

5. The far right  was pre-soaked in water at room temperature for 1 night, painted, steam 30 minutes, cool, dry flat.

A friend in crochet group lent me a valuable tips: "Put the colours on, cover and 'cook' in 

the microwave for 2 mins at a time until the colour has been taken up/exhausted. Rinse in 

warm water. Dry." Thanks to Robyn Cobby for her kindness to share her tips.

I understood now why you should never hang your silk to dry. The water will pull the yarns down resulting in an uneven texture. I will remember this next time: Lay flat your silk yarn to dry.

Silk yarn in its natural color and after dying/painting

Testing out the result firsthand. 

Next batch Silk of India insyaAllah... 

Thanks Laurensia Debyana for  videotaping it for us. Sorry for the video turned dark in some part in the middle because light went off. Yeah, light do went off about dozen times in our place, but we are still very lucky because in many more places in the world in fact they have no electricity at all.

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