After three attempts to get the saturated color I wanted for my last experiment, which was a bright pink-red, I tried again. This time, the color was deeper and far more dramatic.
I used just under a cup of sodium carbonate, dissolved it in about a gallon of water, and soaked the 2 yards of cotton fabric in it for several hours. Here’s where I changed my method:
I placed the fabric, carefully bunched to produce a mottled effect, into an aluminum tray (a turkey roasting pan). I dissolved the procion dye with a small amount of water, and again poured it through a strainer several times from container to container. I used about three or four teaspoons of navy blue. At this point, I mixed it with some of the reserved soda carbonate water to form my dyebath, and poured it over my fabric. I did the same with a mixture of navy and green procion dye, and poured that over as well. The dyebath covered the fabric abut three quarters up, with peaks emerging from the dyebath. I covered the whole thing with plastic and let it sit for hours.
Cotton in blue dyebath
Let's talk silk painting! 