silk dyeing

i dyed some silk todayrecently a friend gave me some unhusked walnuts from her tree

i had mentioned that they would probably make a good source of dye for fabric, particularly silk

so, this morning i put a stainless steel pot on the stove with about 10 walnuts thrown into some cold water

then i wrapped and layered some more walnuts between 3 pieces of silk and added the resulting bundle to the pan with some water

i folded another silk piece roughly lengthwise, and accordian-pleated a second one, before tying them in 2 or 3 knots

i dropped them into the pan along with about half a cup of white vinegar and a bit more water to make sure the bundles were just covered

once the water was boiling, i turned the heat down until it was just simmering and let everything cook gently for about 3 hours

every now and again i turned the bundles over with some tongs

once i was happy with the colour density i took the lid off the pan and set it outside to cool

i then rinsed and untied the fabrics before putting them through the washing machine on a gentle cycle and hanging them out to dry

i was very happy with the results – my first attempt at dyeing fabric with walnuts!

[note – the light ‘splotches’ are sunlight, just in case you were wondering …]