The Handbook of Natural Plant Dyes: Personalize Your Craft with Organic Colors from Acorns, Blackberries, Coffee, and Other Everyday Ingredients [Paperback]

Sasha Duerr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 19, 2011

Buttery yellow from garden weeds or gorgeous garnet-red dye from flowers — achieving stunning colors for your fabric, yarn, and other natural materials is almost as easy as boiling water, with ingredients as close as your spice cabinet and as plentiful as fallen leaves on an autumn day.
 
Through step-by-step instructions and color-saturated photographs, textile designer Sasha Duerr explains the basics of making and using natural plant dye, from gathering materials and making the dyes to simple ideas for how to use them.

Have a picnic on a sunny turmeric-yellow tablecloth, give a baby some adorable acorn-dipped booties, craft a set of stunning black-walnut pillows, or treat yourself to a little black(berry) dress. Experimenting with color has never been more tempting to try.
 
Gentle, sustainable, garden-to-garment practices will inspire knitters, sewers, and fabric lovers of all stripes to transform fiber, textiles, and even pre-loved clothes into works of art — and to have a lot of fun in the process.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Natural dyes’ unique qualities can make magical color vibrate and glow with hints of comingled, naturally occurring tints, and the richness of these living colors from plants—renewable, nontoxic, and biodegradable sources—is an ecologically friendly alternative to synthetic dyes. As Duerr provides background information on both natural and chemically produced dyes, she also discusses the growing Slow Movement in reaction to the speed and thoughtlessness of modern life. There are slow approaches not only to food but also to fashion and textiles, and Duerr emphasizes the similarities between cooking and the dye-extraction process. She covers the basics of equipment and safety measures, shares recipes using everything from sour grass to olive leaves, offers instructions for keeping a recipe and swatch book, and lists lots of projects, including tablecloths, scarves, and beads. With eye-catching line drawings, 190 color photos, and a plant palette of sample plants and dye colors, this attractive, user-friendly guide will delight many a do-it-yourselfer. --Whitney Scott

Review

"All the inspiration you need to create vibrant hues with nontoxic dyes."
(One Spirit )

"This attractive, user-friendly guide will delight many a do-it-yourselfer." (Booklist )

“For anyone interested in exploring natural dyes, The Handbook of Natural Plant Dyes is a must-have.” (Curbly.com )

“An absolute must have for fashion and textile artists, designers, students and educators.” (Social Alterations )

An expertly written and beautifully photographed book. (Anne McCollam Oklahoman )

"This book is ideal for those who love the artful side of both gardening and crafting." (Shannon Graff Hysell American Reference Books Annual )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 172 pages
• Publisher: Timber Press; 1 edition (January 19, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1604690712
• ISBN-13: 978-1604690712
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 0.5 x 8.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,699 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #6 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Crafts & Hobbies > Needlecrafts & Textile Crafts > Dye
  • #8 in Books > Professional & Technical > Architecture > Sustainability & Green Design
  • #17 in Books > Arts & Photography > Decorative Arts & Design > Textile & Costume

More About the Author

Sasha Duerr is an artist and designer who works with organic dyes and fibers, focusing on the creative reuse of materials. She is dedicated to a cross-pollination of textiles and environmental systems thinking, gaining inspiration from the ecological principles found in permaculture, as well as from regenerative design for food, clothing, and shelter. In 2007, Sasha founded Permacouture Institute to encourage sustainable design and education from the ground up in fashion and textiles. Through Permacouture, Sasha has addressed audiences on natural dyes and sustainable textiles at colleges and universities across the country, and she consults on sustainable fashion for the fashion and textile industries. Sasha has received multiple grants to teach natural dyeing at the Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, California, and has taught courses on Slow Textiles at artist workshops, colleges, and community and school garden programs. She serves on the panel of experts for the Nordic Initiative for Clean and Ethical.

Sasha's textile art and design has been shown in galleries and museums in the United States and abroad. Her work has been featured in such publications as San Francisco Magazine, Selvedge, Fast Company, and Eco Salon. Her bioregional knitwear collection with Casey Larkin is Adie + George. She teaches at the California College of the Arts, where she earned an MFA in textiles. She offers courses that focus on the convergence of ecoliteracy and social practice in textile art and design.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Plant Dye Book We've Been Waiting For March 2, 2011

By Tilke Elkins

Format:Paperback

Sasha Duerr's The Handbook of Natural Plant Dyes is a warm-hearted and generous book which swiftly ushers the reader into the world of useable color that is already at our fingertips. As it turns out, dye-making that's good for the earth is also the simplest, most direct and easiest way to create color. In addition to being packed with dye recipes using ingredients you can find in your kitchen, back alley-way or any other gone-to-seed urban area, the Handbook is a fully-illustrated manual for sustainable living at its most sensual and joyful, and a comprehensive introduction to the Slow Textiles movement, in which Duerr is a key player. Her scrupulous attention to all aspects of the color-making process and how it affects our health and the health of our beloved planet provides us with an abundance of useful and unexpected tidbits and activities, like how to build a solar oven out of cardboard and aluminum foil, how to plant a space-efficient spiral dye-plant garden, and how to felt your own laptop case out of wool fresh off the sheep! When you pull on the threads at the edges of this book, you find yourself seamlessly integrated into a whole way of life, one where color and clothing and food and community relationships all flow together in delightful and mutually beneficial ways.

This is absolutely the best manual to have whether you're a beginner or a seasoned dyer in search of a healthier and more holistic dye practice.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Sustainable dying April 1, 2012

By Rose

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I bought this book because I wanted to learn more about natural dyeing and explore dong textile arts more sustainably. I wanted to be able to use salvaged fabric via clothing from the Goodwill, dye them naturally, and then sew them into useful items. I haven't had this book for long, and I'm currently slowly working towards my goal, but I love what I've read in this book so far.
It's very easy to follow and the information is just great. The author very thoroughly talks about what is needed to dye textiles naturally---from textile preparation, plant preparation, mordants, etc. and how to do this sustainably in each step of dying. I've read parts of older natural dye books, and I find this one to be a particularly up to date account of natural dying. She talks about how natural dying doesn't equal sustainable dying, that many old methods of natural dying were sustainable and many were not. For each step in the dying process she gives a range of options for different situations. For example, you'll need a fair amount of water for dying. She talks about using rainwater, water from local bodies of water ( the most sustainable choices) to using tap water and how this can be done eco-consciously as well if it's your only option.
So all in all I find this book to be very thorough and an absolutely wonderful resource for those wishing to experiment with natural dying in a sustainable fashion. It's a very "eco-forward" natural dye book.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Handbook of national plant dyes March 21, 2011

By Katherine Lingenfelter

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Very good book on natural dyeing. Wonderful color pictures showing the plant,the colors of different plant dyes and how to obtain the color. A good starter book for the beginning and experienced dyer. Gives good explanations on how to dye materials.