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Call 727-698-6674
Kathleen Peck
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How to Care for Silk |
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If necessary, the silk may be hand washed in cold water with a mild liquid detergent and ironed dry with a medium hot iron being careful not to scorch or burn the fabric. Cover any artwork and edges that have the 'gutta' with another cloth before ironing. This will prevent the iron from sticking. It is not unusual for of dye to leach out while washing. However, washing the silk should be avoided. Do not get the stiff casings wet as this could make them too soft to hold up the flag. Keep painting out of continuous direct sunlight to keep the colors vibrant. Excessive rapid whipping of the flags (especially the Fire Flags) will cause fraying. If this should occur, coat the edges especially the tips with "Fray Block" or "Fray Check" by Dritz and trim any fraying. "Fray Block" and "Fray Check" is available at Wal Mart or any store that sells fabric. If per chance you should get a tear in your flag, "Fabri-Tac" is an excellent clear fabric glue to repair your flag. The repair will hardly be visible and very strong. Wrinkles in flags usually fall out
without ironing. |
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Silk Painting Process |
| The silk is first washed to remove any impurities or sizing and then stretched onto a large wooden frame and allowed to dry. Next the design is transferred to the silk (a design that has already been worked out on paper) and drawn with a rubbery liquid call 'gutta' or you can draw directly onto the silk with the 'gutta'. Some designs require underpainting to get the effect desired so the lightest dyes must be painted first and allowed to dry. Second and third (or more) applications are painted. After painting (dying), the silk must be allowed to dry for at least 24 hours. Next, the silk painting is sandwiched between layers of paper and rolled onto a specially designed tube that fits in a steamer. The cloth must be steamed at least three hours depending on the size of the project to set the dyes. After the dyes are set, the silk is rinsed to remove excess dye. If there are designs to be cut out, they are now cut out, rinsed and ironed dry. The painted silk is now ready for sewing into the desired project. |
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To order call Kathleen Peck 727-698-6674 or via email Contact Me |
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