Natural Dyeing

By Jackie Crook

Book Overview

For thousands of years, natural dyes have been celebrated for their subtlety and diversity--and, thanks to contemporary concerns about chemicals and toxins, their popularity is surging again. Fortunately, as this vibrant guide so elegantly shows, the craft is both easy and enjoyable to explore and requires no special equipment: just ordinary pots and pans. A thoroughly illustrated tutorial covers all the basics of hot and cool dyeing, and 30 colorful options to try, including roots and plants (madder, tumeric, henna), wood (cutch, fustic), flowers (safflower, dandelion, daffodil), leaves and stalks (tea, rhubarb, indigo), and fruits and vegetables (blackberry, wild cherry, avocado). From pale pinks and vibrant oranges to earthy browns and rich blues, a vast spectrum of hues awaits.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1600592228
• ISBN13: 9781600592225
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Lark Books (NC)
• Length: 112 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 9.0" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

In response to the previous comments . . .

I bought this book more for the information about the cleaning, mordanting and dyeing processes described in the beginning of the book. And I must say the photography is brilliant. As for obtaining the dyes, I use dye extracts from Table Rock Llamas in Colorado. They offer over 30 colors, including the exotics shown in "Natural Dyeing" (they don't sell toxic mordants). But if I want to grow my own dye plants, I rely on "A Dyer's Garden" by Rita Buchanan, a fantastic little book that gives growing info, dye recipies and results, and a supplier's list to obtain plants and seeds. Finally, I will experiment if I want to see what color a particular plant might give -- I hear bindweed, a noxious weed where I live, gives brilliant greens . . .