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What product should be used to "paint" the background of an embroidered silk panel to cover up water stains?

I have a pair of large antique Chinese silk embroidered panels that were adhesive mounted on plywood backings. They have suffered water damage, leaving very unattractive stains on the backgrounds. The silk embroidery is fine. I feel that working carefully, I can "paint" the backgrounds a new color that will cover up the stains. What product should I use?

Public Comments

1. Fabric paint at the craft store. But I wouldn't do it unless I was willing to throw the panels away because it didn't turn out well. It may "bleed" further into the fabric than you want. Is it possible to frame out the embroidery with another piece of fabric....silk...and then put some braid (furniture upholstery type braid) around the edge where the new fabric meets the old fabric where the embroidery is? (Kind of like putting a mat around a picture).
2. You are going to need a couple of products. The first is called resist (sometimes called gutta) which you can get at craft stores though you will find a larger variety on line. I make silk scarves with hand painted designs and for your application it will work to keep the background color from using the silk fiber to bleed into the design on you panel. Carefully use a paint brush to apply it around the designs and let it thoroughly dry according to package directions. It will provide a barrier to keep the the paint you use to re-paint the background from migrating into the design. There are paints specifically designed for painting on silk. I use Dye-Na-Flow Silk Paint or Setasilk. The latter has a better and bigger variety of brighter colored paints though not available in larger sized containers, but they both flow easily and are easy to use. Just be sure to follow package directions and your project should turn out beautifully.
3. If they have a value, don't do anything. The stain could be mold or cast off from the plywood. Call your local museum or high end antique store and ask for names of people who may do this type of work.