Drinking tea and staring at mounds of fabric today. Inspiration? 

Sometimes, getting permanent marker on your clothes is a good thing!

My Mother’s Day project went off beautifully. Every kid’s scarf was unique and wonderful. And most of us even finished in time to make a card for our Moms. You can see photos of our scarves on our facebook page.

Geo really got into this craft. He’s made several in the recent days for his Grandmother and Aunts. Each one seems better than the next! Originally, I wasn’t going to post a tutorial because the internet is full of these things. But he came up with a few tips that make a difference–ideas I haven’t seen elsewhere. So, I took a few photos of his process to share with you. (those are his hands in the photos!) Plus, I thought I’d list my resources as well. With that in mind: the tutorial is below the fold. Jump jump!

Tutorial: Dyeing Silk Scarves with Permanent Markers

Supplies:

• Silk Scarves. I used chiffon from Dharma Trading Co. 
• Sharpies. This project will ruin your sharpies, but it’s worth it!
• Droppers. I found these at Rite-Aid. They’re about a buck a piece.
• An Iron. (Optional. But if you layer colors, you can speed up the drying process between each pass)
• Alcohol. It helps to decant it into a small plastic cup.
• Paper or plastic covering. I used paper because I have a glass table. But if your table is wood, I’d use a plastic tablecloth to protect your table. 
• Paper towels for blotting. 

Step One: Folding

1. Iron your scarf as best as possible. It doesn’t have to be perfect, the alcohol will get rid of most of the wrinkles. Begin by folding the scarf in half and then fold a partial triangle starting at the loose ends side. Leave about 2″ at the edge.
2. Then fold the same fold going in the other direction,  leave another 2″ on the other side.
3. Repeat this fold until the entire scarf is folded.

Step Two: Add Color

1. Select 2-3 colors that work well together. Staying in color families will keep your scarf from looking muddy when you are finished. Hold the pen on the scarf and really let the ink saturate the fabric. Work in small sections.
2. Working in prime numbers helps. Geo suggests 2, 3, 5, and 7 are best: “The human mind can see and understand these numbers so the pattern they make is appealing.” (This is what happens when engineers craft!) Abstract designs tend to work well with this medium. 
3. Load your dropper with alcohol and place the tip of the dropper in the center of your design and slowly release the alcohol. This takes a bit of practice, but the more you add alcohol, the more the colors will meld and saturate the layers below. Keep adding until you’re happy with the effect. 

Step Three: Alcohol and Blotting

1. Using your fingers massage the color into the fabric. 
2. Turn the triangle upside down and add some alcohol to the back of the pattern.  This will help spread the color.
3. Repeat the process until you have nearly covered the scarf. Leave a bit of white space. You can always go back and add detail in the white areas as you feel it’s necessary. When you’re done, you can blot with a paper towel to absorb any excess dye. But the alcohol will dry very quickly. 

Step Four: Iron and Admire

Oooh. . . pretty. 

A few tips:

• Do this in a well ventilated area. It gets a bit fume-y. 
• I ordered the 8″ x 54″ and I wish I had bought a longer length.
• Dharma recommends you wash them before dyeing, but we didn’t have any issues with that. 
• Iron when finished. You can place a piece of paper over the scarf if you want to protect your iron. 
• Brighter colors work best. Pastels are hard to accomplish. 
• If you think you’ve put enough ink on the fabric, you haven’t. It takes a LOT to make the color spread and not leave a bunch of dots on your fabric. 
• Stick to color families. Trust me.

A Mother’s Day Project

With much trepidation, I pressed the “submit” button on an order of silk scarves. I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea: spending so much money on a single art project. What if it didn’t work? What if it did work, but required more time than we have? What if it created a giant mess and instead of making lovely gifts for Mom on Mother’s Day, I sent home a passel of children stained and marked? “Here, Mom. . . for Mother’s Day I made you more laundry to do!”  

We’re a small church. A Mini-church if you will (a mini-church in a huge building and oh the stories!) — so my Sunday School class consists of children ages 5-13. On the one hand, I love it. Our conversations are varied. There is a balance between older kid and younger kid energy. I think it’s a great opportunity for siblings to interact: a chance for older children to assume leadership roles. 

But on the other hand, it drives me crazy. Finding projects that a 13 year old boy would want to do that a 5 year old can do. . . means lots of hours on the internet researching. I don’t even watch TV any more. I listen to it: while I dig through my online resources, looking for the right projects. I’m constantly pinning ideas for the future: my eyes always searching for just the right thing that will speak to every kid the ultimate truth I want them to glean: YOU ARE LOVED… and isn’t Sunday School cool?!

So, when I stumbled on a tutorial for dyeing silk using sharpie markers and rubbing alcohol I immediately pinned the idea. Hello Mother’s Day! (and um, hello gift that any mom would WANT!) And then I researched every tutorial out there on the subject. And then I asked a friend who dyes things for a living for help. You know, just to make sure. Could we do this in 50 minutes? What kind of silk should I order? Do you think I’m crazy to try this??

For me, these projects not only serve to reinforce the message. . . and give the kids opportunities to learn by doing (instead of just talking at them!)– these projects serve as a ministry opportunity beyond the message. Public schools are cutting art programs as funds dwindle. Time to do those projects has been greatly diminished with the ever growing perception that our children are falling behind the world in the areas of math and reading. So, out goes the play. Out goes the paint. In comes more testing. 

Which makes me ask the question, “If the Church is to speak to the needs of people today. . . well, what are those needs?” In the case of children, I would strongly suggest those needs include playing and creating. If I can, once a week, provide an opportunity to do so and tell them all the same that they are LOVED LOVED LOVED just as they are — it’s a no brainer, right? Challenges aside, it’s worth the effort if these children (be it 15 on a good day or 3 on a quiet day) can learn and explore and create!

The above photo is a test run. Geo wanted to try and I figured, why not? If the 16 year old can do it and love it, then it’s golden. Right? The project has ticked off all my boxes so far — I’m crossing my fingers on the rest. I’ll post photos and tips next week after we do the project on Sunday. But in the meantime, I thought you’d like a sneak peek into what constitutes my creative process these days. 

Friday’s Pin: Painterly. On A Passion for Flowers

The painting in the background has me dreaming. And wishing I had the time to sneak off into my studio to play with some dye.

I did order silk for my Sunday School Class. We’re doing a project for Mother’s Day (shhh… it’s a secret!) and if there are any left-overs, I might just have to find the time to get creative. I’ll keep you posted! 

Packages of seeds ready to be mailed.  

Work has been so busy–lots of long hours. I still haven’t put my peas in the ground: hoping to do that this week sometime. But I managed to get all my friend seed packages ready. Off to the Post Office today. 

I dressed up the envelopes with free hand leaves in pretty vintage fabrics late last night. I’m thinking I may tape over them just to be on the safe side. And then I dashed off a quick photo this morning. You should get your seeds by the end of the week. For those of you who are participating: THANK YOU!! 

Ok… back to the day job.