• silk (habotai works best, 5mm or 8mm) - let's say about 2m / 2 yards
• an unglazed clay (terracotta) flowerpot (see picture) approx 6in/15cm high
• a saucepan which is deeper than the flower pot's height, approx 8in/20cm
• saucepan lid
• stovetop
• silk paints, brushes, sheet of plastic

• place a sheet of plastic on your work table or bench
• fold your silk piece in half, then in half again, lay silk on plastic
• with a large brush, paint a square about 12in/30cm in size, wet enough to go through the four layers of silk
• repeat this using the other colours, in a random pattern on the silk, use less black than the other two colours
• when silk is all painted, dry top layer with hairdryer, and continue to blowdry the rest of silk, taking care not to get wet silk all over you
• when all silk is dry, unfold until one long piece
• with the help of another person gather the silk from selvedge edge to selvedge edge in rough pleated folds
• twist the length of silk until it is all twisted, and tries to fold in half
• when the silk is all twisted, attach one end around the bottom part of the flowerpot with string (tie around pot)
• wind the twisted silk round and around the pot and finish off by tying to the pot with string to keep it in place (make sure string will be easy to untie to remove)
• put the pot upside down in the saucepan and fill with cold water up to the top of the twisted silk (the saucepan needs to be deeper than the flowerpot)
• put the saucepan lid on, and bring to the boil
• once the water is boiling, set a timer and continue to boil for 30 minutes
• do not let the saucepan boil over!! keep an eye on it, check every few minutes
• when 30 minutes is up, take saucepan off stove and carry to sink - the water will look bizarre
• carefully remove the pot from the saucepan, by putting a paintbrush or wooden chopstick or tongs into the hole in bottom of pot and carefully lift it into the sink
• turn on the cold water tap and ensure the silk is cold before you touch it
• untie the silk while water is still running, rinse clear
• hang silk out to dry or dry with hairdryer
• silk is now ready to SEW!

• All care must be taken to avoid fumes from dyes and paints, especially when boiling silk and when blowdrying.
• The saucepan should not be used for food again.
• Always keep utensils for cooking separate from those used for dyeing.
• We accept no responsibility for anyone trying this technique.

• Try with a small piece of silk or a scarf first, so you can gauge the results before you try it on a few metres/yards of silk!
  
• Too many dark colours might not give a good result.
  
• No guarantees are given to anyone who might try this technique.
  
• Only use as much silk as you can afford to lose if you don't get results you like (but remember you can always paint over the silk with other colours, use it for cushion covers, silk cards, bookmarks etc).
  
• This is a fun project, not a real "painting" project, and the silk will not end up with big squares on it - it will be covered with chevrons or zigzags in a fascinating pattern in blends of shades of the colours used.
• Good results have been seen with two shades of the same colour, like a light and dark blue and black, or a light and dark green and black, or orange and red and black ...

Tumeric - yes that seldom-used spice on the shelf - makes a wonderful deep gold dye on protein (wool, mohair, etc) and cellulose fibers (cotton, ramie, flax, etc.)and *does not* need a mordant. In the Orient it is used as a substitute for the much more expensive saffron in dyeing monks cloaks.

Here are some of my dyeing experiments below:

MATERIALS

one ounce ground tumeric

a gallon of water

one gallon plus pot

old dish towel to strain mixture (optional)

seive (optional)

Directions: Experiment #1 Boil the water and tumeric to extract dye and let it sit over night. It will be a greenish/yellow color with bits of dye plant floating about it. You can re-heat and add the skeins directly to the mixture. This will produce the best color. I got a very rich orangey/gold on wool, but it took forever to rinse all the little bits of ground tumeric root off the yarn.

Experiment #2 On my second attempt I let the dye sit over night and strained it through a cloth-lined sieve to catch the dye stuff... Its a very powerful dye. The old dish towel still has a nice yellow circle in the middle from the dye strainings. I added several skeins of wool, and a few sample skeins of cotton and ramie. They all took on a wonderful rich deep gold color --- very much more intense than most of the natural dyeing I've done. Skeins dyed in the afterbath were increasingly lighter gold with touches of green.

Experiment #3 As the after bath exhausted to a light gold, I threw a bit of red koolaide and some vinegar in the pot. I dyed one skein of wool a sort of peach color. It was quite pretty and the vinegar had no effect on the color.

I was very pleased with these results. I'd recommend tumeric dyeing to anyone as it is cheap to do, and the materials are very easy to aquire at the local grocery. Its safe for kids and needs no mordant at all. My six year old loved helping make yellow. My results have been fast through normal hand washing and wear. No fading yet. Actually, the dish towel has been repeatedly bleached and the yellow circle is still very much there... So watch where you spill....!!! :-))