Printing with Silk Ties on Silk Scarves (Easy!)

How to print on silk fabric with men’s silk neckties. A cool and easy way to transfer the pattern from a tie to a piece of fabric or silk shirt

Did you know that you can print on silk with silk ties? That’s right, it is possible to transfer the dyed design on a tie made of 100% silk to another piece of silk such as a scarf or shirt.

This is a fun twist on the traditional silk painting or dyeing methods where instead of hand painting the dye onto the fabric, you use a simmering technique to transfer the dyes in the neckties to the fabric.

Have you seen pictures of colorful Easter eggs that were dyed with silk ties? This is basically the same process.

images of colorful silk ties and blue print fabric

Why do I want to print with silk ties?

Because neckties come in a bazillion different colors and patterns. You can find everything from striped, geometric, animal print, polka dot, herringbone, tartan, floral, paisley and so many more.

Also, when you buy your ties at a thrift shop such as Goodwill, this is a very inexpensive way to make some one-of-a-kind, beautiful and expensive looking scarves, blouses, decorative pillows or wallhangings.

Bonus: hand painted or printed silk scarves make awesome gifts for Birthdays, Mother’s Day, Christmas or any other occasion. So, you can easily DIY totally unique, lovely gifts for all of your special friends and relatives.

Note: this dyeing technique requires 100% Silk neckties so make sure and check the labels. Blended fabrics probably won’t work.

Supplies needed:

100% Silk Ties
100% Silk Scarf or Fabric (see notes below)*
Scrap fabric slightly larger than your silk fabric
String
Scissors
Tongs
Old Pot (not used for cooking)**

*The blue silk scarf I used (see below) is made of Habotai Silk which I previously marble-dyed with Jacquard Acid Dyes. (You can see that tutorial here)

The white and black pieces are Silk Chiffon which is an open weave fabric. While chiffon or gauze will accept the prints, they will not show up as well as on Habotai Silk fabric so I recommend you use that instead.

The black piece I used just as an experiment to see if the print would show. It didn’t so I recommend using white or light to medium color silk for this technique. Just make sure the scarf or fabric is 100% Silk or this won’t work.

**Safety note: Just like with chemical dyeing, once you use a pot for this silk printing process, it will no longer be safe to use for food prep.

image of a silks scarf with label 100% Imported Silk — **Reminder: Make sure the label says “100% Silk”!**

image of three silk scarves in black, white and blue

Printing with Silk Ties, a FiberArtsy.com tutorial

Also check out my Eco Printing on Fabric tutorial

Some thoughts before you get started:

There are two basic ways that you can approach the layout of your ties and thereby the pattern:

1. The first way is to cover the entire scarf with the ties. With this method, you only use one side of each tie so you can open up the backs to have more dyeing surface and different shapes.

2. This is the one I used: Cover only half of the fabric with the ties. Cut the length of each tie but leave the backs intact. This way you can print from the front and the back of the ties.

Basic steps:

1. Prepare the neckties:

This is gonna hurt but if you chose option 2 above, you now have to cut up your beautiful silk ties. While you are doing that, take a moment and think about the design you are trying to create.

For instance, you can use a bunch of smaller pieces for a mosaic-like effect or you can lay them out next to each other in long strips. I chose to cut my ties a bit longer than the width of the scarf to lay them out crosswise.

2. Arrange the ties:

So, first place your old fabric on a table. Then take the silk fabric and fold it in half to find the middle point. Mark this point with a pleat or pencil. (We are only going to cover half of the scarf and then fold it over)

Now, lay out all your ties onto the silk fabric up to the half way mark. Again, I put mine in long strips but the design is completely up to you. Also keep in mind that you do not have to cover all of your fabric so the background color shows through.

image of cut up silk scarves and scissors

image of cut up silk scarves laid out on blue fabric

3. Roll up the fabric:

Once you have covered half of the scarf/fabric, fold the other half over so it lays on the backs of the ties and then fold over the underlying scrap fabric.

Then, beginning at one end, slowly and tightly roll up all of the layers. The tighter you roll it up, the better the contact between the cloth and the ties, the better your prints will be.

4. Secure the bundle:

Now you will want to tie up your roll in four or five places with the string. This will keep the fabrics from coming apart while cooking.

image of a fabric roll tied in four places

5. Steam the bundle:

Next, you are going to simmer your fabrics which will transfer the dyes. So, add 2-3 inches of water to your dye pot, making sure the water is deep enough to cover the rolls.

Bring the water to a boil and then lower the heat to medium. Carefully place your fabrics in the water and push them down with an old spoon or tongs to submerge.

Simmer the whole thing for about 25 to 30 minutes and then remove your pot from the heat and let it cool completely.

If you are impatient like me, you can remove the rolled silk from the water so it will cool faster.

Once cooled, unroll and remove your little piece of art! Rinse gently and then hang the silk scarf to dry. Care instructions are just like any other silk. Hand wash and iron if necessary.

Printing with Silk Ties FiberArtsycom-collage 800

I hope you will try printing with silk ties on fabric. It is a fun twist on the traditional silk painting or dyeing techniques.

And have some fun picking out beautiful neckties and make yourself a one-of-a-kind, gorgeous printed scarf. And remember, these make wonderful diy gift ideas!

Printing with Silk Ties on Silk Scarves (Easy!)

How to print on silk fabric with men’s silk neckties. A cool and easy way to transfer the pattern from a tie to a piece of fabric or silk shirt