Unique Hand-Painted Silk Wearable Art & Textile Designs by Australian Teena Hughes
Teena Hughes dipped the paintbrush into silk dye and as she watched the colours slowly inch and slide across the silk fabric, to blend and merge and swirl and explode, she fell in love. With silk. With being able to paint and design on silk, and other textiles. She heaved a sigh of relief and thought, “Ahhhhh … so THIS is what I’ve been searching for all my life!”
How a handpainted silk chiffon scarf is made
When I paint on silk I put some French music on to get me into a painting mood 
I always start with white silk so that when I paint the colours on with French dyes, the colours will be vibrant. Here are a few photos to show you the silk painting process – I hope this helps you to understand how the magic happens.
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When I paint a silk chiffon scarf, I first stretch the silk on my wooden frames.For some scarves, I outline a design with cold wax – in this case I’ve created a flower.When the wax dried, I start to paint with a soft paintbrush, using silk dyes.I blend the blue and the green . |
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The cold wax acts as a barrier so that when the dye is applied, it flows beautifully to the edges of the wax outline, and stops.This is often called the Resist Technique or Method.There are other products to use as a resist/barrier, but for this design I am working with the cold wax. |
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Once I finish painting the flower, I start painting the background.After the silk is dry, it is carefully wrapped in cotton and placed inside a special steaming machine for a minimum of 3 hours.After the steaming process, the silk is washed to remove excess dye. The colours will be strong and colourfast, and the scarf is ready to go to its new home |
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Depending on the design and the client, I might start with a scarf which has already been hemmed, or I might hem the scarf after it’s been completed.Voila! This is the finished scarf!I love painting on silk to create gorgeous, vibrant designs – it makes my heart sing View more small square silk chiffon scarves like this >>
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Teena Hughes
AbfabDesigns.com
tel: (+61) 0408-801-808
PO Box 111, Balaclava Vic 3183
Australia
Email me >>
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Silk artist / Textile design
Unique Wearable Art & Design