I have a friend named Julia. Julia once accidentally shaved her head. I know, how do you accidentally shave your head? Let me tell you, it takes a special person.
Julia does this thing where she pretends that she knows what she is talking about when actually she hasn't got a freakin' clue. And she speaks with such utter conviction that you completely trust her. Once, she did this while giving directions in a car. "Yes, turn left, definitely left", she said. And even when we were hopelessly and totally lost she still said that she knew EXACTLY where we were going. Another time (by this time I was wise to Julia's ways) she managed to dupe the poor unsuspecting new girl in the theatre crew that we worked with. We were going to take a look at a giant and very beautiful swarm of fireflies over a pond near our friend's house in the country. I was carrying one of those lawn torches as our only source of light and we stood gazing at the beautiful dancing lights of the fireflies. With only the light of a small flame on a stick to light our way, the unsuspecting new girl asked "Do you think that we could walk a little closer?" Big mistake. Julia said "Of course!", grabbed her arm and marched her forward with her usual bravado. They moved forward and then dropped - all that could be seen was their flailing arms and legs accompanied by the sound of hysterical giggling. Julia had marched the poor girl straight into a ditch.
I hear you ask yourself, what the heck does this have to do with cloth doll making? Well, this Freebie Friday I am going to pull a Julia. I am going to pretend I know what I am doing and you are going to unwittingly follow me. I am going to direct you to lots of great free tutorials about dying and if I lead you into a ditch I hope you just giggle about it. The reason being: I officially suck at dying. Just so you know. But I figure that if I pretend convincingly enough you might just believe that actually I am a genius and know everything there is to know about the art of textile dye. Maybe after hunting up all these free tutorials I will be an expert. One can only hope.
Click here for flesh and hair colour dying recipes from various members of Doll Street Dreamers
Click here for a quick article on dying in your microwave.
Click here for a free article on dying using Procion (fibre reactive dyes).
Check out this video from the DIY Network's Uncommon Threads for more info on fibre reactive dyes:
Watch this video to see how to use procion dyes to create an ombre effect.
Patti Medaris Culea loves using procion dyes for creating flesh colours, click here for her explanation of how she dyes her flesh tones.
Use Procion dyes to try the Japanese method of Shibori (the fancier word for tie-dye). Shibori is a huge topic, but click here for a basic tutorial to get you started.
Or how about Batik? Try this video for a simplified Batik method called pool dying. This video smacks of those videos you had to watch in school. Where do they find the voice over people who can make any topic nauseatingly dull? But persevere as the ideas are great. Funny, cause I've been to the candle making place that supplied this video and it is definitely stuck in the 70's. But retro is cool, right?
Procion dyes can be toxic, so if you prefer, trying using Jacquard's Dye-na Flow which is a non-toxic paint that acts like a dye. In my tiny flat I find this easier to use. I've linked to this pattern before but I am giving it again because in the instructions Patti Culea explains how to use Dye-na flow to dye a doll body that has already been sewn and stuffed. Click here to see how she does it.
If you don't like the idea of using chemicals try this technique from the DIY network for using food to make dyes by clicking here.
Why not try making hand dyed lace? Click here to see how to use dye like a paint to pick out the designs in the lace.
Want to dye a synthetic? You might consider transfer paints/dyes. Click here for a free tutorial.
To tell the truth there is so much free information on the net for dying techniques. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Have a trawl yourself, you'll be amazed by the number of tips and techniques out there.
Keep in mind however, that dyes can be toxic and you should follow the safety instructions given by the dye manufacturers. As a cautionary tale, Julia asked at the end of a lecture on dye safety in university (we were studying theatre design and production), 'So what would the effect be if say, your mother was a batik artist and you had spent most of your early childhood running barefoot through dye?'. Kind of explains the accidental head shaving, huh? So play safe!
