{"id":885,"date":"2012-06-03T23:01:28","date_gmt":"2012-06-04T03:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/?p=885"},"modified":"2015-05-06T21:34:28","modified_gmt":"2015-05-07T01:34:28","slug":"sun-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/sun-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Sun-day"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This week’s craft was silk painting.\u00a0 Unlike my previous post, this is most definitely not stupid simple, and I can safely say that I learned a great deal including several things in the “what not to do” category.\u00a0 Still, I think I can be said to have been moderately successful.\u00a0 This silk painting, unlike what I have done before, is a resist painting.\u00a0 That is, before painting an insoluble compound is applied to the silk and when the silk is painted, those portions not covered by the resist are painted and those that are covered remain white.\u00a0 It is the same basic principal as batik, but the execution is slightly different.\u00a0 Here the silk is stretched on a frame.\u00a0 (Many thanks to my good friend Michelle who lent me hers.\u00a0 I am always reluctant to sink a great deal of money into equipment until I know that it is something I am going to pursue for more than one or two projects.\u00a0 It is very handy to have friends that are also into crafting because then you can trade expertise and equipment.)\u00a0 You then put your design onto the silk.\u00a0 In this case, I used a projector to project my design (a 14th century Egyptian design taken from the Ashmolean collection<\/a>.) onto the silk and traced the design.\u00a0 Here I made my first “what not to do” mistake.\u00a0 I used regular pencil.\u00a0 This does not wash out of silk as well and one might hope.\u00a0 Next time I will have to find something better.\u00a0 Any embroiderers out there have a solution?\u00a0 The resist is then put into a bottle with a nozzle.\u00a0 The nozzle looks a lot like a cake decorating tip.\u00a0 I traced the pattern with the resist.\u00a0 Then you take silk paint, or in this case, silk dye (from Jaquard<\/a>) and paint the areas you want.\u00a0 This part is magic.\u00a0 It’s a little like using the paintbrush on a digital program.\u00a0 The dye flows through the silk and spreads to all the areas not enclosed by the resist.\u00a0 It is very important when putting down the resist to completely fill in the lines.\u00a0 If you don’t, the dye will bleed through the gaps.<\/p>\n

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Here you can see where the red bloomed through tiny gaps in the resist. Using black resist makes these gaps easier to see, but it gives the piece a different look.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I mentioned that I used a silk dye.\u00a0 In the past, when working on smaller projects, I have used silk paint.\u00a0 Silk paint is much easier to fix than silk dye, but it has a tendency to leave little lines where you stopped painting and began painting again.\u00a0 The silk dye blended together much better and what color variation there was looked more like shading.\u00a0 Here is what it looked like when I was done painting it.<\/p>\n

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Nice huh?\u00a0 a few splotches and a a few bleeds, but overall, very nice.\u00a0 Now comes the hard part.\u00a0 Silk dyes are not color fast unless they have been heat treated, usually steam set.\u00a0 I do not have an industrial grade steamer, so I had to improvise.\u00a0 First I lay out the dried piece on an absorbent cotton cloth, in this case an old bed sheet.<\/p>\n

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Then I rolled up the piece inside the cloth.<\/p>\n

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I folded up this roll and stuffed it into my vegetable steamer.\u00a0 The instructions I had said not to let it touch the sides.\u00a0 I thought that this was because they would be hot and burn the package, and since my vegetable steamer worked differently, I wouldn’t have to worry about that.\u00a0 Turns out I was wrong.\u00a0 The problem with letting it touch the sides is that it allows condensation to pool on the silk.\u00a0 This removes the dye from the silk where the water pooled.<\/p>\n

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You can also see in these photos where the pencil didn’t wash out of the fabric\u00a0 \ud83d\ude41\u00a0 Since this piece is going to be affixed to a parasol and not going to need to go through the rigors of washing.\u00a0 I just repainted the holes without re-steaming them.\u00a0 They will probably fade a bit faster in the sun, but it shouldn’t be too obvious.<\/p>\n

The next step was to affix this silk to the paper parasol.\u00a0 For this I used Mod Podge (glossy).\u00a0 Mod Podge stays fairly flexible which should allow the parasol to open and close, and the gloss should provide a nice finish.\u00a0 Also, it should make it resistant to water.\u00a0 I don’t think I’d want to use it as an umbrella, but it should stand up to the rigors of an outdoor event, even if it gets a little damp.<\/p>\n

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This worked out quite well.\u00a0 One other thing that I would have done differently is to paint the paper on the parasol white before gluing down the silk.\u00a0 Though it is difficult to tell in this picture, the silk is thin enough that the yellowish tone of the paper showed through the silk.\u00a0 It is by no means a perfect piece, but the blemishes are far less noticeable on the finished parasol, and I will not be ashamed to carry it.\u00a0 I still haven’t glued down the edges.\u00a0 I’m trying to decide if I want fringe.<\/p>\n

I am looking forward to more forays into the realm of silk painting.\u00a0 I definitely need to figure out a better way to set the dye.\u00a0 Maybe my canning pot would be big enough to suspend a large piece in.\u00a0 I might even have to get my own silk stretching frame.\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week’s craft was silk painting.\u00a0 Unlike my previous post, this is most definitely not stupid simple, and I can safely say that I learned a great deal including several things in the “what not to do” category.\u00a0 Still, I think I can be said to have been moderately successful.\u00a0 This silk painting, unlike what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dyeing"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/perspective1.jpg?fit=640%2C490&ssl=1","author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/author\/admin\/"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/perspective1.jpg?fit=640%2C490&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2gp05-eh","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":42,"url":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/onions\/","url_meta":{"origin":885,"position":0},"title":"Onions!","author":"admin","date":"September 15, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Several months ago I bought a sample card from Paradise Fibers with a whole bunch of different wool and silk fibers.\u00a0 I wondered, after Kaleeb's and my experiments with natural dyes (in which the commercial wool took up the dyes much more intensely than my hand-spun), whether the breed of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "dyeing"","block_context":{"text":"dyeing","link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/category\/fibers\/dyeing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2007,"url":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/flying-squirrels\/","url_meta":{"origin":885,"position":1},"title":"Flying Squirrels","author":"Julie Stubbs","date":"February 18, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"As the temperatures drop and the leaves turn I get an almost overwhelming urge to nest. For me this usually means copious amounts of baking and the laying in of craft supplies for the dark winter days. In order to facilitate this my creativity jumps in to overdrive and the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "crochet"","block_context":{"text":"crochet","link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/category\/fibers\/crochet\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_0306-e1708313236828.jpeg?fit=1200%2C901&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_0306-e1708313236828.jpeg?fit=1200%2C901&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_0306-e1708313236828.jpeg?fit=1200%2C901&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_0306-e1708313236828.jpeg?fit=1200%2C901&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_0306-e1708313236828.jpeg?fit=1200%2C901&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1658,"url":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/keeping-with-a-theme\/","url_meta":{"origin":885,"position":2},"title":"Keeping with a theme","author":"Julie Stubbs","date":"January 12, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I am finding that as I work through various projects, weaving is less intuitive than I expect. My most recent set of projects is a perfect example. This fall my wonderful husband took me for a romantic weekend to a Black Mountain bed and breakfast. In addition to good food,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2291,"url":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/first-flush-of-a-fresh-fervor\/","url_meta":{"origin":885,"position":3},"title":"First Flush of a Fresh Fervor","author":"Julie Stubbs","date":"February 1, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"For me, there is nothing like the rush that comes with learning a new skill. Last Fall I started taking pottery and I have been deep in it. The studio where I am taking classes allows student to use the space at any time there is not a class going\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Pottery"","block_context":{"text":"Pottery","link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/category\/pottery\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_2647.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_2647.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_2647.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_2647.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_2647.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":240,"url":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/deceptively-difficult\/","url_meta":{"origin":885,"position":4},"title":"Deceptively Difficult","author":"admin","date":"November 26, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The family has left after Thanksgiving.\u00a0 It was a really wonderful visit.\u00a0 And since my dad's birthday is in early December, I was able to give him his present early.\u00a0 This should have been his present two years ago, but I got so frustrated with it that I put it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fibers"","block_context":{"text":"Fibers","link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/category\/fibers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/keyscarf.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/keyscarf.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/keyscarf.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":139,"url":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/let-there-be-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":885,"position":5},"title":"Let There Be Light","author":"admin","date":"October 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Please Read This Important Update! ***A Quick Note About Safety*** One of my readers reminded me that it is important not to take anything for granted.\u00a0 Please remember that you are working with wire and that it is going on an electrical appliance.\u00a0 Please make sure that when in use,\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 19 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 19 comments","link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/let-there-be-light\/#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/treelight2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/treelight2.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/treelight2.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=885"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1425,"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885\/revisions\/1425"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}