dyeing play silks

A few months ago, we had a play silk dyeing party with some friends.

We purchased our plain play silks from Dharma Trading Company. To dye them, you will need:

• a microwave oven
• a microwave safe bowl (or large glass measuring cup)
• white vinegar (you will use 1 part vinegar to 4 parts water)
• water
• dye

You can dye them with Kool-Aid (we used the store brand), food coloring, or natural dyes (red cabbage, beet juice, blueberry juice, turmeric, coffee, etc.). One I dyed with the water leftover after boiling red cabbage and it turned out a beautiful lavender shade. The yellow was lighter than I wanted so I re-dyed it with turmeric and now it is very vibrant.

Add your water and vinegar (start with 1/2 cup vinegar and 2 cups water, adjust from there if you are doing several at once) and then as much dye as you'd like depending on shade. You can always add more later. You can even twist and add rubber bands for a tie-dyed effect. Cover, and microwave for 2-3 minutes, then stir it and let it sit a few minutes. Repeat as desired for the color you want.  Hang to dry, then wash in cold water and dry again.

The outside silk was dyed first with purple, then with blue.

So many uses for these!

Drying silks.