Book Review - Natural Dyeing

Book review time!  I thought I’d profile the sources I have on plant dyes, as I am eagerly anticipating the first hollyhock flowers soon.  I am also seeing yarrow flowers opening and the horsetail is proliferating in the roadside ditches.  I need to order some silk yardage!  Here are the books that I have on my shelf: 

Wild Color: The Complete Guide to Making and Using Natural Dyes.  Jenny Dean, with Karen Diadick Casselman, Octopus Publishing (Watson-Guptill/Crown Publishing/Random House), revised edition – 2010.

                This is the best single source I have found on plant dyes.  Easy-to-follow, concise step by step instructions, clear photographs and a section that profiles a good selection of dye plants with the colors that they yield.  Highly recommended for the beginning dyer and anyone who wants to grow their own dye plants. 

The Complete Guide to Natural Dyeing.  Eva Lambert and Tracy Kendall, Interweave Press, 2010.

                Another excellent source with step by step instructions and accompanying photographs.  The focus is almost strictly on prepared natural dyes mail ordered from supply companies.  It only briefly glosses over collecting dye plants.  The concept of growing your own plants is apparently completely ignored.  Suitable for those who can’t have or don’t want their own garden. 

A Dyer’s Garden. Rita Buchanan, Interweave Press, 1995.

                Very good source, smaller and shorter book than the others mentioned here.  Definitely for gardener artisans.  The dye process instructions are written in prose, so I would recommend this for those who have done some natural dyeing, or as an additional resource to supplement one of the first two books listed here.  Great descriptions of dye plants and their cultivation. 

Eco Color: Botanical Dyes for Beautiful Textiles.  India Flint, Interweave Publishing, 2008.

                Interesting idea source for the advanced dyer, in-depth processes, but not concise.  Lots of interesting science and history information, loaded with overwhelming artsy photographs.  Worth the cost for a thorough list of natural dye plants from around the world. 

The Handbook of Natural Plant Dyes.  Sasha Duerr, Timber Press, 2010.

Harvesting Color: How to Find Plants and Make Natural Dyes.  Rebecca Burgess, Artisan/Workman Publishing, 2011.

                I’ll discuss these two books together, since they are very similar.  Quite frankly, neither of these two books have been very useful for me.  The organization is rather haphazard, but there is some good information and instruction scattered throughout, the reader has to work a bit to glean it.  If one wants to take the time, I would recommend writing notes from these two into something to use in the dye work area.  The Burgess book is marred by frequently blurry and oddly cropped photographs (the headless torsos holding plants are just plain creepy), and I was horrified to see images of bare hands dipped in pokeberry juice, which is toxic (and it is stated so in the text of the book!)  Both books are targeted for single-project dyers who might embark on dyeing once or twice a year.