A hand-painted scarf made from fine Habotai silk.

A lustrous, translucent scarf adorned with elaborate blooms, each flower with an abundance of delicate petals. This design stands as the most labor-intensive of Darla’s silk work.

About the process: Darla starts by laying out her hand-drawn pattern to be traced onto a length of raw silk. The silk is then stretched flat on a frame. Each line of the pattern is then carefully plotted with a resist, called gutta. Then, with a fine brush, each section is filled in with color. Once dye is applied and the material is dry, the scarf is carefully rolled in newsprint to avoid the colors from running. Rolled in this newsprint, the scarf is then hung in a steamer for 3 hours, to set the dye. Finally, it is washed and hung up to dry. The finest of the silk scarves are then hemmed by hand.

5 mm weight, hemmed edges

60” long x 28” wide

Hand wash cold. Air dry. To reduce wrinkling, sprits with a fine-mist spray bottle or hang in a steamy bathroom.

Designed, painted, + finished by Darla