last night at my art group we experimented with dyeing silk velvet. we mixed up 16 colors and dipped our little squares over and over again~ rinsing, mixing, dipping, squeezing, did i say dripping? we all wore gloves {except Deb who has a blue left hand this morning} and aprons and our old clothes. this morning the squares were all dry, lined up on my kitchen counter. the silk velvet is so luxurious and takes the color beautifully! we had a wonderful time. now i just get to dream up something to make with all this gorgeous color. velvet strawberry pincushions are definitely on the list. as well as some soft little bunny ears. the silk velvet is actually made out of silk and rayon. my favorite pieces were the ones where the silk dyed one color and the rayon dyed another. the mix of the two colors looks just like a piece of perfectly aged vintage silk velvet. i found an old silk drawstring beaded purse once that was falling apart, i bought it just for the vintage velvet and have been hooked ever since... this photo shows the two tone color effect where the velvet has been folded in half and rolled up. notice the top left lavender piece that has a definite blue base color. fabulous! happy weekend, julie
