The making of a "superherio" cape

My daughter is in "Superherio" mode these days.  No, not a superhero, a SUPERHERIO.  It cracks me up every time she says it!  Anyway, last night I decided that every superherio needs a proper cape, so I broke out the play silks that I never quite got around to dying and told her that we could make her one. 

I picked a big square - I think it's 24x24 (purchased from Dharma Trading Co.).  I've done Kool-aid dying before, and knew that it was quick and easy, which fit the bill for this morning - we were able to squeeze it in between breakfast and a visit to the butcher shop.  I followed the general directions here, but didn't follow them exactly.

First, I washed the scarf in a little Woolite-type detergent.  Once it was well rinsed, I got started on the colors.  Since I was just doing one scarf, I put about three cups of water in a saucepan, added a generous "glug" of white vinegar (probably 1/4 cup or so), and stirred in the Kool-aid packets.  For pink, I used a packet of pink lemonade flavor and half a packet of strawberry.  I heated it up on the stove until it was just steaming, then poured it into a bowl.  Because she wanted two colors, I folded the scarf into a triangle, then put a rubber band in the middle, at the point.  This gave the blocks of color a diagonal shape.

We dipped one end, up to the rubber band, in the dye, and I set the timer for 10 minutes while my daughter poked and stirred the scarf. 

For the orange dye, I followed the same directions as the pink, but used two full packets of orange Kool-Aid.  When the pink end was done, I pulled it out, running my fingers down it to squeeze out some of the excess dye.  Then I put that end into a zip-top bag, so it wouldn't stain my counters or floor while we did the orange end.  My kitchen may be lived in, but it's not THAT lived in, LOL!

Same procedure as the pink.  If you're doing two colors, I recommend you do the darker color first, so that if the middle ends up in the second color, it won't be as noticeable. 


After 10 minutes of soaking, I squeezed out the orange end and put it in the bag, taking care not to let the two sides touch. 

I sealed all but about an inch of the bag, and popped it in the microwave on high for two minutes.  That sealed in the color.  I always double-check by rinsing out the scarf afterward, but I've never had any color leakage after the microwave treatment.  Then I removed the rubber band, and we hung it out on the line to dry.

Then we ran to the butcher shop, and, by the time we got home 20 minutes later, it was dry and ready to go!  

Superherio Caitlyn - off to save the world!