Playsilks

I have wanted play silks for awhile now and while reading several different books I realized I could make them myself! I ordered my silks from The Dharma Trading Company and followed some slightly intricate directions for dying with kool-aid. This is in all honesty the first time I'd ever bought kool-aid as we do not drink it but the directions called for 4 packs for each silk and since I wanted to make a rainbow set  (7)  I bought 42 packs. I was expecting the grocer to give me a funny look for such a large quantity or to say somehting like, "Someone in your house must like kool-aid" but he didn't. But I was prepared to tell him we weren't drinking it so I just blurted out I was using it to dye silk. I think that got a bigger reaction than the 42 packs of powder. :)

In any case it did not go well. My red was a best a washed out salmon pink. I tried a different flavor of kool-aid but it didn't help one bit. Plus the directions had me stirring a pot of boiling kool-aid with the silk in it constantly for 45 minutes. I really had no patients OR time. I have 4 kids! Haha.

So then I decided to ditch the kool aid and purchased some fabric dye. It was SO much easier. I was to put the silk in a sink of water with the packet of dye mixed into warm water and stir occasionally for 45 minutes. It was much faster because I could leave it and tend to the children, or to dinner or to whatever I decided to do that wasn't dying silks! I now have 5 very pretty play silks which we will be giving away as a present for one of the kids' pal's birthday.

indigo

I've noticed the prices of sets of silks can go all the way up to $150.00!!! Making this was about $6.00 per silk so it was a much better deal!