RE: Silk Covering Techniques
A couple of additional thoughts.... You can work wet silk around the most complex curves without a wrinkle. Just keep it wet and work slowly.
Don't be concerned if the adhering dope blushes after you attach the wet silk. The blush will come out with later coats.
To avoid dope running through to covering be sure that your first coats are laid on the surface not brushed into. The dope will penetrate and flow nicely.
Spraying on the initial clear dope coats never seems to work well. On the other hand trim colors should be sprayed.
A very light sanding between coats with 400 wet/dry paper gets rid of the fuzz.
Silk can be dyed in a rainbow of colors with silk shoe dye available from dance clothing stores.
Only one coat per day.
Nylon is much stronger then silk and just about as easy to apply. However water will not shrink it. That means that your initial application must be wrinkle free. Nylon requires more dope to fill.