How to paint on Silk Organza

How to paint on Silk Organza with Teena Hughes (image)

Wondering how to paint on Silk Organza?

Traditionally silk organza is used as a wedding fabric, but of course traditions change and adventurous textile artists can create beautiful designs learning how to paint on silk organza (often just called “organza”).

This short video shows the sheer silk and gives an idea of what it will be like to work with.

What is Silk Organza?

From Wikipedia:

Organza is a thin, plain weave, sheer fabric traditionally made from silk. Many modern organzas are woven with synthetic filament fibers such as polyester or nylon.

Silk organza is woven by a number of mills along the Yangtze River and in the province of Zhejiang in China.

A coarser silk organza is woven in the Bangalore area of India. Deluxe silk organzas are woven in France and Italy.[1]
Organza is used for bridal wear and evening wear. In the interiors market it is used for effects in bedrooms and between rooms. Double-width organzas in viscose and acetate are used as sheer curtains.

Using Silk Dye on Organza

As a Silk Artist, I prefer the ancient French techniques of hand-painting with steam-set dyes.

For those familiar with silk painting, part of the joy is watching how the colours flow and spread on tightly-stretched or loose silk, merging with other colours and spreading quickly or slowly depending on the thickness of the silk (thin silk allows dyes to flow quickly).

Silk Organza is a different type of silk altogether, and once a silk dye colour is painted onto organza, it doesn’t move or flow. This is one of the biggest differences between hand-painting on most silks — and hand-painting on silk organza.
The strong bold silk dye colours dry much lighter, and can be painted over in different ‘layers’.
If the organza is to be worn, it will need another layer of fabric underneath as it is see-through. To make colours stand out, consider using a white layer underneath, perhaps even a silk Habotai (tight-weave, nice sheen)

I haven’t tried painting on silk organza yet — if you have, I’d love to hear from you to see if you enjoyed it, and which part of the process you liked most. Pop a Comment in the field below 🙂

Suggestion for trying painting on organza

If you already have dyes and paints, try a small piece of organza (whichever size you’re most comfortable with), and create some samples on the silk.

Which is the best brand of paint or dye to use?

As I haven’t painted on organza myself, I cannot say which is the “best” paint or dye.

I can say that you should try small amounts of different paints and dyes, and see which ones you like best.

Some options to try:

Jacquard Red Label Steam-fix Silk Colors NEW TO US
H Dupont Steam-fix Dyes
~~Javana Avantgarde steam-fix dyes~~ DISCONTINUED
Jacquard Green Label Silk Colors
Procion MX Fiber Reactive Dye
Opulence Silk Dye requires steam fixing

Why don’t the bright silk dyes look bright on Organza?

Excellent question! Organza is different to all the other silks and because of that the colours appear muted when dry.

Although I’ve never painted on Organza, I’ve been told by other silk artists that it’s possible to add more layers of the same colour after each layer dries (on organza) — which is the opposite of hand-painting on other silks like Habotai.

Make notes in your silk painting Journal so you know :

WHICH brand of paints or dyes you used
which colours you used (their exact names for future reference)
which results you liked
which techniques you used (if any)
which colour-setting technique you used (according to the Brand Manufacturers’ instructions).

Keeping this in your Journal ensures you’ll be able to reproduce your technique again in the future.

Printing onto Silk Organza

This video provides a simple overview of printing techniques used on organza – some very clever ones too!

Visit your local art/craft store:

look for textile paints — and silk paints.
Always follow the Manufacturers’ instructions (which differ from brand to brand).

Try Marabu Textile Paints

available in small 15ml
jars (to test out the colours),
30 colours water-based.

Have fun learning how to paint on Silk Organza!

Let me know if you have any questions, send me an email or pop over to the Facebook page – I look forward to chatting with you.

Have a gorgeous day wherever you are!

Hugs,

Teena signature in pink

Teena Hughes

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