Hand Dyeing Silks

Hand dyeing is not just for yarn and fleece, despite the fact that is the name of my book. If you have any protein fiber, one which comes from animals, you can dye it with the formulas in my book Hand Dyeing Yarn and Fleece. I have been dyeing silk yardage for several years.

One of my silks was featured last summer in Elle Décor Magazine, and we received orders for silk yardage to be used for dress making. Many people use this yardage for a type of felting called Nuno felt. If you look at Chris White’s web site, New England Felting Supply, (http://www.feltingsupply.com/) you can see samples of this technique and listings of her classes.

If you are interested in learning how to dye silk, check out the Webs (http://www.yarn.com/) listing for my upcoming class in Northampton, Mass. I will also be offering a class at a location here in Greenfield, Mass. after the first of the year. I will keep you posted once the details are finalized.

One of my customers, Heather, purchased silk for a class she took using this felting technique. She sent along some pictures of her results (see below). I like the outcome so much, maybe I should ask her to return the silks??