A Rainbow of Silks

I have, for a long time, loved the idea of playsilks. My Magic Cabin catalogue, one of the very few I get, arrives, and I look at all the wonderful playthings. My kids love to dress up and are fairly bursting with imagination, and I love fabric, especially natural textiles. So while I've looked at them often and thought they'd be a lot of fun, paying $10 each for a square yard of colored silk seemed, well, a bit extravagant. Then, a few weeks ago, I came across instructions for dyeing your own silks with Kool-aid! White silk scarves were less than $4 each from Dharma Trading Company, and Kool-aid didn't add much to the cost. The project was easy and fun; the kids were able to help out. It was also quick, and before long they were happily playing.

Peregrine puts the vinegar-soaked silk into jars with Kool-Aid. If I do this again, I will do each silk in a small pot so it has more room and the color comes out a bit more even. Also, I would use three packets of Kool-Aid for each scarf for a more vibrant color.

Here's the finished rainbow.

And here are a couple of cute little pilgrim/princess/king kids in the front room. They are finding so many uses for these and really enjoying them.

After dyeing with Kool-Aid I got inspired to try some natural dyes. From left to right I used coffee, tea, coffee/turmeric, blueberry, blackberry, and turmeric. I also did one with half a bottle of liquid chlorophyl I found in the cupboard. It came out a pale green that is also really lovely.