Procion dyes

I made the dyes according to well nearly according to the instructions. Made the chemical water first which was a mixture of 1 and a quater tsp of urea plus 1 and half tsp of calogen in 1 litre of warm water. This mixture can be kept for quite a while. Then a solution of 500g of soda ash with 1 litre of hot water. This mixture has to be used on the same day. Take a quater of a tsp of dye and make a paste with little water. Add a ratio of 60 to 40 of the chemical water and soda ash water to it. I might be slightly off in my measurements as I can't remember exactly. I had to half the quantity , as this measurement was too much for a small doll. Infact even when I halfed it, it was too much. So that is why my measurements sort of went a bit haywire and the dye became lighter than intended. But when I added a bit more of it it was brilliant. The colours are really bright. Cotton really takes well to this dye. It just ran into each other and blended. Then I let it dry and once it was dry I heat set it in the oven at 225 degrees for 20 minutes. Actually I only left her in it for 10 minutes as I felt my oven was too hot and I was scared I might burn her. I also remembered just in time that she had wooden joints! It was begining to get a bit brown. I felt that since she was going to be only a doll that should be enough. You can also iron her to set the colours or put her in the dryer to set the colours.

Thanks for the tip about the embossing Judi and I hope the above was clear enough. Now I am looking forward to dying my silks.