Fortunately, the beauty of natural playthings is that, unlike those molded plastic My Little Pony toys that my kiddos snatch up at every yard sale, you can make them yourself. I’ve made tree blocks. I’ve made organic play dough. I’ve made my own modeling beeswax. And, although I can’t actually make my own silk, I’ve bought undyed silk cheaply and dyed it to make beautiful, colorful, free-form play silks for my daughters. Play silks, of all shapes and sizes and colors, are simply hemmed pieces of lightweight dyed fabric that lend themselves to all kinds of creative play, from dress-up to fort-making to using with a child’s other toys. I’ve watched my daughters tie black play silks around their heads to make a pirate’s eye patch, drape a yellow play silk over two chairs to make a “tent made of the sun,” clip a play silk to a My Little Pony at one end and a LEGO carriage at the other end and pull it around a building block farmyard. You’d be amazed at the ways that a child can find to play with such a simple toy, and with my method, you’ll be amazed at how easy it is to cheaply dye your play silks to make a rainbow of vibrant colors: NOTE: Silk is a natural fabric, but it is not vegan. Unfortunately, you cannot make this particular project vegan, because acid dyes, including Kool-aid, only work on animal fabrics, such as silk and wool. When I make play silks, I begin with white silk scarves–I personally purchase my scarves from Dharma Trading Company, but you can likely find white silk scarves in many places. They come in a huge variety of sizes, from these smaller scarves that I’m using in this particular project, to gigantic pieces perfect for a kid-made backyard tent. Pre-wash your silk scarves in hot water, because any invisible oils or dirt on the scarves will hinder the dye. When your scarves are clean but still wet, put a big pot on the stovetop and stir together two quarts of water, three packages of unsweetened Kool-aid in a single color, and one cup of vinegar. The vinegar’s purpose is simply to ensure that the Kool-aid is acidic enough to dye the silk, so it’s possible to leave it out if you prefer to experiment. And yes, I know that you probably don’t actually let your kids DRINK Kool-aid, but consider that it is non-toxic and food-grade–for a fabric dye, that’s pretty great! Heat the dye bath just to the boiling point, then turn it down so that it stays at a near boil. Next » Dye the Silk Put only as many silk scarves into the dye bath as will be able to agitate loosely without clumping together, doubling the recipe for the dye bath if needed for a giant scarf. If the silk remains folded or crumpled or clumped together for the entire soaking time, it will dye with a mottled look. When the silk is immersed, set your timer for ten minutes. Stir the pot often to agitate the fabric and ensure that it remains loose in the dye bath. Next » Heat-set and Rinse
After ten minutes, drain the liquid from the pot. At this point, there are a couple of ways to further heat-set the dye–you can do either, or one, or none: The first option is to dump the soaking wet, vividly colored play silks straight into a microwave-safe container (if you don’t have a microwave, you can, of course, skip this step). I tend to use the same zip-top plastic bag over and over, but a lidded glass bowl will also do the trick nicely. Microwave the play silks for about two minutes to steam-set the dye. The second option is to dump the soaking wet, vividly colored play silks straight into the clothes dryer, and dry them until they’re bone-dry to heat-set the dye. When you’ve finished with one, or both, or none of these options, dump the dyed play silks (only one color at a time!) into your washing machine. Wash the play silks in hot water using your regular detergent (I use my homemade laundry soap, made with my homemade hot-process soap), with a second rinse and a good-sized glug of vinegar in the washer’s spot for the rinse aid. Next » But Will it Fade? Depending on the exact make-up of the invidual Kool-aid color that you’ve chosen, you may notice that the wash fades the color of your play silks anywhere from not at all to a whole lot. I’ve found that with my method, red and purple are the most vivid, green fades to light blue and orange fades to pink, and yellow rinses almost completely away. If you’re truly unhappy with a particular color, you can over-dye it with something else, but even the subtler shades are really gorgeous.
