Silks

I have gone silky for Christmas because, well, it’s Christmas, and this is all about opulence. However, silk is not unproblematic and so, if you are also going silky, then I implore you, check your sources. To be ethical and sustainable, your first option is Botanical Inks, who supply the only UK-made, truly silk-worm respecting silks (they are usually killed in the production process), or you source ‘peace silk; (also known as ‘ahimsa silk’, or you go plant-based imitation, also known as bamboo silk.

 

Now, to be fair, Babs Behan of Botanical Inks was aghast when I suggested bamboo silk and I fear that it is a terribly resource-intensive production process. But it is vegan, so really, one has to pick one’s poison. 

 

For ethical silk, any of the options by Botanical Inks will be beautiful. For heavier ribbons or wrapping, the satin is beautiful. If you want something more Silk and Willowish, choose the habotai. If you are in the USA, I am truly envious, because you can source from Themazi. For organic bamboo silk, all weights seems to be glossy and quite heavy, so I recommend Ray Stitch.

 

If you have come this far and are feeling a bit overwhelmed by the whole process, they do sell different colours… For dyeing at home, if you start with the oat coloured option rather than stark white, I find the tones seem lovelier.

 

Usually, there are two rather different routes because the methods of colouring protein fibres (proper silk) and plant-based fibres (bamboo silk). However, I have made everything super-easy, and if you follow the steps below, you should get some glorious colour, whatever silk you start with.

TWO RESULTS

Wrapping scarves – 

furoshiki, the Japanese tradition of wrapping gifts (and other things) in fabric is an utterly beautiful, as well as a sustainable, tradition to adopt. The practice of wrapping in silk makes it even more lovely. I find heavier fabrics are better for larger objects and bottles, but silk works perfectly for wrapping textiles (yes, everyone should get at least pair of socks for Christmas), and anything in a small box. 

Ribbon – 

Ribbon can elevate the most utilitarian of wrapping paper, even a brown paper parcel (although I adhere to the rule of twine with brown paper, and ribbon with white), to the heights of luxury.

Extra points if it is long enough to wear as a necklace, or fine enough to wear as a bracelet, for the evening’s festivities, after the King’s Speech, and before everyone falls off their chair with drink. 

Rather counter-intuitively, one does not dye silk ribbon, one dyes big bits of fabric, and then tears them terribly carefully into strips. I know, the things that no-one ever tells you. Just make sure if you want to end up with ribbons, don’t use fabric with any meaningful hem or edging. But enough, pick your end point, and then come along with me. 

Start with the scour

For all and any dyeing, there are usually two non-negotiable steps before you even get to the colour stage: scouring (cleaning off any residue and waxes so that the mordants can reach the fibres), and mordanting (creating a fix between fibre and dye). 

But this is Christmas, we’ve all got lists and commitments and parties and champagne to drink. So, as my gift to you, I am making this a one-step prep. 

How? We are going to use only substantive dyes. The step that we are skipping is the mordanting, which is the application of a chemical to help the dye ‘bite’ into the silk. However, there are some dyes that magically already have enough tannins that they are like a colour and mordant all in one. These are the ones we’ll be using. Take your pick from: 

Black tea 

Onion skins 

Avocado pits 

Coffee 

Eucalyptus

 

Oh, and before you do anything, weigh whichever fibre you are using and write it down somewhere. I will keep talking about WOF (weight of fibre) so you know how much of various things to use, and it is a bit of a nightmare to do it by eye. 

I am going to do this step by step with timings for a gentle Saturday of dyeing.

The night before

If you are working with avocado, it is worth getting a head start. Get as many pits as you can find (I went for six) and put them in a pot. Boil really hard for an hour, maybe two.

If you have an aga or an everhot, just put the pot in the bottom over overnight. If you have a slow cooker, tip everything into there and let it sit on slow overnight.

If you have none of these things, it’s fine, but make sure you boil for at least two.

Get everything together

For scouring, you will need: 

/ Scales 

/ A big stainless steel pot, one that has retired from culinary life 

/ Some wooden spoons and a set of tongs, ditto 

/ Some ecological soap – I use Dr Bonners 

For the dyeing, you will need: 

/ Dyestuff : For gold, onion skins. For pale brown, coffee grounds. For a lighter, antique gold, tea. For pinks, avocado pits and skins. For warm browns, eucalyptus. 

/ An old aluminium jam pan, different metals give different colours and generally, the more reactive the more interesting. 

/ A sieve or some cheesecloth 

A safety note, although we will only be doing small bits of fabric, pots of hot water can be surprisingly heavy. Be careful of both your back and spillage. If you are struggling even a tiny bit, let the water cool, empty a couple of litres out with a measuring just, and try again. It is not worth pulling a muscle over.

That’s it for tonight. Off to bed.

Next morning

Ok, now we are getting into it properly.

STEP ONE : Weigh your fabric.

If you have different types of silk (or any other fabric) and it isn’t a different shape or size, it is going to be very hard to tell it apart once wet, so use some coloured thread to just put a different single stitch in each one. On a scrap of paper, record the weight and the colour.

STEP tWO : SCOURING 

Scouring means cleaning any dirt, wax, chemical coating etc, off the silk, so that the dye can make contact with the fibre. It is usually done by washing very thoroughly, and in quite a specific way. I have simply not been brave enough to put proper silk through the washing machine, but I have a new washing machine, and I also have bigger quantities to do than previously. 

However, the softest, mildest, ‘hand’ wash setting, or take the sensible way out, and actually just hand wash.

Use Dr Bonner’s, not a proper detergent. Then, fill a nice big saucepan with water and add a squirt of Dr Bonners. The fabric should swill around so be generous with the pot and the water. Simmer very gently for at least an hour.

If you are doing a small amount and you have a large slow cooker, this might be an option. In these energy saving times, I tend to use a low oven set to about 60 degrees and just bung the saucepan in (it just about fits).

You might want to go a little bit hotter if you are using bamboo, cellulose fibres always take a bit more work.

Move it around every so often, but be gentle. [During this hour, you can be starting step three, so read on, and then come back.] 

After an hour, take off or out of the heat and leave the silk to cool in the water. Tip the dirty water away and hand wash. Sometimes, if the water is really dirty, I start the whole process of heating, simmering, and cooling all over again. It is a fine line between damaging the fibre by overscouring, and making sure you have done the process justice. Remember it is delicate and be respectful. 

Once you are satisfied that the silk is scoured and thoroughly rinsed, put it to one side, but do not let it dry out. It’s ready for dyeing and if you put dry fabric into a dye pot, it is absorbed very patchily. 

STEP three : THE DYE 

Yes, the time has finally arrived. The actual fun bit.

The general principle is the same for all extraction of colour from plants, and it is essentially the same as making a very stewed cup of tea. An excellent rule of thumb is to remember that, like tea, we are after steeping, not boiling. Boiling is too strong for almost all colours (I except avocado from this, it does need a bit of persuasion) and it won’t do the final results any favours.

A light touch, always. 

Another good rule of thumb is that you should have around the same weight of plant material as you do the weight of fibre (Again, avocado is the exception – aim for twice the weight of pits as fibre). 

Follow both of these rules, and joy awaits you. Fill a clean pot with water and add the material.

Bring to just below a simmer and hold it there. The amount of time it needs to steep will depend on the material but most of the ones we are using are pretty generous and will give colour quite quickly, so let us say simmer for about half an hour, an hour if you have the time and are going for deeper shades. Be cautious with onion skins, the right amount of time and you get warm gold. Leave too long, or boil too hard and you get tango orange. 

Leave to cool a little, just so it is easier to strain. For even colour, remove all of the plant material. Some people like the speckles that come from leaving the silk in with the coffee grounds or the onion skins and that can be lovely, but my experience is that it just makes cleaning the silk at the end a nightmare. 

Return the dye bath to the big pot, compost the leftover plant material. Take your damp scoured silk, and carefully put it in the dye bath. I swear this first minute is worth the last thirty, so do this bit carefully. Try and make sure the silk goes in without folds, crumples or creases and swill constantly for at least a few minutes. 

You can warm it again by bringing the whole pot back up to a simmer, or maybe just below a simmer. Do not risk everything boiling at this stage. Yes, I am going to bung the whole pot back in the bottom oven, but, if you managed to clean out your slow cooker after the scouring process, this will do just as well. 

Set an alarm to stir the fabric every fifteen minutes or so, but otherwise leave well alone for an hour. Take the pot out. You will be tempted to have a look. Be prepared for the fact that it will always look darker in the dye bath.

Leave it for as long as you can bear, but definitely until it is cool.

Take the silk out, rinse it carefully, and hang up to dry. 

STEP four : FINISHING 

For furoshiki wrapping scarves, this is where we end. Or maybe once you have given them an iron anyway.

For ribbons, use some very sharp scissors to make a cut in the edge of the silk, and very carefully tear into strips of your chosen width. They will need a bit of tidying up by pulling at the edges to get rid of any loose threads, and then either iron or run some hair straighteners over them.