A fresh new perspective on natural dyeing. This book explores the rich cultural traditions of natural colours from around the world and introduces new ways to explore natural dyeing for yourself.
Explore a simple way of coaxing colour from fresh indigo leaves, discover safe methods of extracting colour from lichen, or learn how create prints on fabric with plants. See how to combine rusty metal with tannin, or onion skins with alum to produce natural colours on cloth.
The possibilities of natural dyeing and methods of extracting the colour are endless. Broaden your understanding of mordants, plant a dyer’s garden, and learn new techniques.
Table of Contents:
- The Crutchley Archive: A Dyer’s Legacy by Anita Quye, Dominique Cardon, and Jenny Balfour Paul – discover this eighteenth century collection of dyers’ books to gain insight into every day working practices of the dyers, recipes and fashion colours, much of which is still labelled with a swatch of the dyed fabrics.
- The Simple Magic of Fresh Indigo by John Marshall – an examination of fresh indigo leaves and how blues and greens can be extracted using different techniques.
- Botanical Printing: Art Adventures with Plant Pigments by Wendy Feldberg – benefit from Wendy’s experimentation to create prints on fabric and paper using different methods.
- Let Us Not Dye Alone: Creating a Dye Garden by Donna Brown – a donation from the family of Janice Ford began the the exciting process of creating a dye garden in Colorado. Donna tells us the story of how she and fellow members of the Rocky Mountain Weavers’ Guild saw the Janice Ford Memorial Dye Garden come to fruition.
- Exploring Lichens for Dyes: An Easy and Ethical Approach by Alissa Allen – learn how to gather lichens responsibly and then the process of extracting the colours. See how to achieve magenta from Punctate Shield Lichen, neon yellow from Wolf Lichen, deep orange from Lungwort and brilliant purple from Speckled Greenshield.
- Mordants: Myths and Facts by Catharine Ellis – explanations of what a mordant is, how they are used and understanding their relationships to fibre type.
- Tannin and Iron by Kenya Miles – Kenya’s imagery and patterning techniques using tannin and iron on textiles.
- Delicious Darkness: Mud Dyes from Africa and Asia by Keith Recker – the deep blacks and dark browns of tannin and iron-rich mud used to create mudcloth.
- Keeping Traditions Alive: Mabel Burnside Myers and Navajo Dyeing by Linda Ligon – a framed sampler tells of the story of fibre to thread to dye-pot.
- Ajrakh Artist Sufiyan Khatri by Mary Anne Wise – the symmetrical hand-printed designs of harmony and balance.
- Bringing Back Tradition with Shakil’s Batik by Satish Reddy – practiced by the family for 6 generations, Shakil has mastered the process of using natural dyes for the Batik block printed fabric.
- Kitchen Confidential: Dyeing Potholder Loops with Common Foods by Linda Ligon – Linda tells us how she dyed her jersey loops “as if she were making soup”.
