Making Silk Paper Tutorial

This is how the fibers tend to arrive, in a large mass all tangled together, at this point you can use them for anything, making paper, doll hair, very organic flowers, emellishment in a landscape piece, etc.

Throwster's waste contains sericin, this sericin acts like an adhesive when spritz with water and heated with an iron, when heated the sericin causes the silk fibers to stick to themselves thus creating a sheet of silk paper or constructed cloth.
  • To make silk paper with throwster's waste pull the fibers apart to form a thin single layer.
  • Spritz with water, but don't drown the fibers.
  • Using either two pressing sheets or parchment paper - I use deli sheets - place your layer of fiber in between the two sheets and press with a hot iron.
  • You don't want to scorch the fibers so keep checking on the papers progress by lifting your top pressing sheet and see if they have bonded.
  • Once they have bonded you can then add a second layer of throwster's waste and heat set to bond both layers for a thicker layer of paper or leave as is and use for embellishment, needlefelting, etc.
The fibers need to be teased apart, if you iron them together in this stage, without teasing them, you will end up with an unworkable mass. Pull the fibers apart gently silk, they don't need to be completely pulled apart, just seperated a bit to make a single layer of fibers.

Tease the fibers apart further until they are thin and gossamer like, if you wish to have thick areas this is fine, these areas might need additional pressing and water in order to form a bond.

First layer of throwster's waste after pressing with a hot iron

Second layer of throwster's wasted ironed to the first layer, it's important to spritz the first layer with water so that the second layer will bond with the first layer.

Painted Bondaweb that will be ironed to the silk throwster's waste paper, I used a fabric paint with a metallic sheen called Pink Halo.

I cut the painted bondaweb to size and then pressed it to the throwster's paper, I used two pressing sheets, one above my paper and one below, to sandwich the whole thing to prevent the bondaweb from attaching the iron and ironing board.

Here is the silk paper with the painted bondaweb attached, the paper is strong enough on it's own to be used for embellishing, but I chose to add the bondaweb as I was wishing to make some flowers for collage that had a bit more bling. Detail shots show that you can still see the fibers underneath.
Silk throwster's waste which can be purchased here http://www.prairiefibers.etsy.com/

Whtat my name means

It would appear that someone has been looking over my shoulder!




What Kimberly Means



You are a seeker of knowledge, and you have learned many things in your life.

You are also a keeper of knowledge - meaning you don't spill secrets or spread gossip.

People sometimes think you're snobby or aloof, but you're just too deep in thought to pay attention to them.



You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing.

You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.

You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.



You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated.

You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want.

You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way!



You are full of energy. You are spirited and boisterous.

You are bold and daring. You are willing to do some pretty outrageous things.

Your high energy sometimes gets you in trouble. You can have a pretty bad temper at times.



You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.

You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.

At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.



You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something.

You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense.

You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun.



You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow.

You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily.

Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.



You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in.

You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising.

You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care.

What my name means




What Kimberly Means



You are a seeker of knowledge, and you have learned many things in your life.

You are also a keeper of knowledge - meaning you don't spill secrets or spread gossip.

People sometimes think you're snobby or aloof, but you're just too deep in thought to pay attention to them.



You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing.

You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.

You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.



You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated.

You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want.

You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way!



You are full of energy. You are spirited and boisterous.

You are bold and daring. You are willing to do some pretty outrageous things.

Your high energy sometimes gets you in trouble. You can have a pretty bad temper at times.



You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.

You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.

At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.



You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something.

You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense.

You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun.



You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow.

You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily.

Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.



You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in.

You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising.

You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care.

Dream World

Whilest I wait upon my other fabrics to finish dyeing, for Malus sylvestris, I've been busily pressing some of my compost dyed fabrics - many of which are now being listed in my prairiefibers.etsy.com store. Then I found this piece tonight, it looks all dreamy and stormy.
This piece is definately calling out to me, I see large thunderstorm clouds, the screen printed lace bit thrown is leads one to think all sorts of things - having survived one F5 and one F3 twister in my short life I'm sure you can imagine the sorts of things I'm imagining!

Goodies

I've been uploading some new natural dyed goodies to my etsy.com store today, they are very lovely! I have more than I can use at the present and am dyeing more - spring has sprung at the Prairie Fibers Studios! Btw I didn't use the plants listed to acquire the colors, as many of these plants are threatened or endangered. Rather I make my colorways based upon my favorite prairie plants!

Auditioning Fabrics













I've been auditioning fabrics again, for an art quilt project. I compost dyed these cotton fabrics about five or more years ago now and still have no other fabrics to go with them. I've been natural dyeing both silks and cotton fabrics to coordinate, no such luck. Each piece is about 20 - 24 inches square, it might be another five years before I find something to go with these pieces.

Quebracho samples

Here is a photo of the quebracho dyed silk pieces, the wool and the cotton didn't take the dye very well - or at all in my opinion! Anyway, the colors are very nice, not what I expected at all. Silk Dupioni fabric and Raw Silk Muga yarn are the samples here using Q. Red and Q. Black in seperate vats. Maybe I should combine the two vats for a third color - who knows maybe I'll finally get the color I've been striving for~!

Quebracho and Posts

Indigo Vat, this vat lives in this plastic bucket year round, it has been in this bucket for about five years now and has quite a bit of sediment on the bottom of the vat.

Quebracho Red - a tree dye that is high in tannin

Quebracho Black - comes from the same tree as quebracho red!
I'm having problems with posting today, not sure if it's a blogger issue or not. Here's some pics of quebracho black and red, about five minutes after I put the silk fabrics into the pots. Tomorrow the colors will be much much deeper. I'm off now to start an osage orange pot, I'm behind in my green challenge piece for the Natural Surfaces Challenge, and I have a LOVELY indigo vat I don't want going to waste~!