Natural Dyes

Natural Dyes
Linda Rudkin
Published by A&C Black
For The Textiles Handbook Series
ISBN 978-0-7136-7955-7
RRP: £14.99
Reviewed by Dorothy Lumb

The Textiles Handbook Series are designed to introduce students and other craft people to new topics and techniques. I found this latest book an excellent and inspiring introduction, with good practical instructions and attractive photographs. I’d give this book to someone who enjoys the possibilities of colour and wants to start working with natural dyes. Whether your interest is working with fibres or yarn, cloth or paper, this book opens up a rich world of possibilities.

Following a brief history of dyes, and answering ‘why use natural dyes?’, the early chapters set out all the information necessary to get started. A step-by-step approach makes dyeing straightforward and soon takes the novice from a standard procedure suitable for most dyestuffs to more complicated methods of using indigo and woad dye vats. A useful list of suppliers is found at back of the book. There are plenty of ideas and suggestions in this book and, if it sparks off a new passion for dyeing, there’s also a bibliography for further reading.

My only reservations about this book are that the sample boards in chapter 4 may limit a reader’s expectations, as some obvious combinations of dye and mordant are not included, and there is no indication of how light fast (or not) these dyes are. However, the sample boards are an impressive collection, and the final chapter shows how gorgeous natural dyes can be through stunning examples of the author’s own work.

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