Review of a new Dye Book

The Complete Guide to Natural Dyeing
Techniques and Recipes for dyeing fabrics,yarns and fibres at home
Eva Lambert and Tracy Kendal
Published by Search Press ISBN 1-84448-527-7

When Amazon first contacted me to tell me there was a new dye book about to be published my first reaction was “ Oh no not another one” as this will be the third in so many years. However not able to resist a dye book I have now added it to my growing collection. The first impact is colour-loads of glorious colour right from the word go -as the very first pages are pictures of samples of dyed fabrics with the page number of where to find how to dye that colour. In the first chapter there are photo's of quite outstanding fabrics by artists such as Isabella Whitworth whose fabulous scarves are shown and Kimberly Baxter Packwood's compost dyed fabrics. These would inspire anybody to want to try natural dyeing.

The book is very easy to use, clearly laid out and the instructions are good. I love the addition of colour theory, the emphasis on the importance of record keeping as well as the really excellent introduction to tie dying, batik and other resist techniques. The dye recipes are good too although I found myself wondering if you really could simmer water at 60 degrees C . Criticisms? Well there are more than a few- it seems odd to me that a book describing itself as the complete guide to natural dyeing should have nothing in it about the extracts of natural dyes. For example Eva Lambert describes at some length how to random dye yarn in different dye pots a laborious process of tying, un-tying dipping into different dye pots that led me more than ten years ago to greet the appearance of the extract dyes , which allow you to hand paint fibres, with enthusiasm. As I read through the book I also went backwards and forwards in puzzlement as nowhere could I find a difference in mordant recipes for protein and cellulose fibres whether as yarn or as cloth. This I don't understand as alum bonds to protein fibres in an acid environment, to cellulose in an alkaline. The chapters on indigo dyeing is comprehensive,and the picture of all the different fabrics and the different way they have take up indigo quite superb, but the chemistry of indigo dyeing is not fully understood. I am intrigued by the addition of salt to an indigo vat-something Sandberg also does- but I do not like the heavy use of caustic soda( sodium hydroxide) in the indigo vats throughout.

I found the lack of a bibliography more than a little surprising and while I really appreciated the down to earth unfussed approach I also found having the health and safety chapter at the end disconcerting. That said the vibrancy of the colours and the clarity of the instructions makes this book very definitely the best of the new books published in recent years and will start many an eager dyer off on a journey of discovery , inspire others to experiment and me … I am off to try putting salt in an indigo vat something I have never got round to trying.

(if you want to read another review of this book go here for Debbie Bamford's take on the book).

Friends, Dye Garden, Mordants , Health and textured yarn

Posted by Helen
Where would we be without friends? My friends have always been very important to me but over the last few weeks I have come to value them all very much. This is what one good fairy friend turned up with the other day. Something to crochet with from her own stash, some are handspun yarns and others are interesting yarns she has picked up. yum! yum! . So I made a hat for her. The turquoise is from the merino 18.5 micron dyed with Saxon blue (indigo sulphonate)I dyed a couple of months ago,and spun last week, but I added in some of the sparkly yarn and then some terracotta and purple. Here is the result although I plan to add a large flower.

The second thing she bought (apart from the cherries which I really enjoyed :)) was " A BOOK" ! This lovely book is full of different ways to create interesting textured yarn. Now it may surprise some people to know that I can spin a smooth even yarn if I have too and if I put my mind to it but I get so bored! I can never resist adding something in, so this book is just up my street. The book is Intertwined,The Art of Handspun Yarn,Modern Patterns and Creative Spinning Lexi Boeger ISBN-13:978-1-59253-374-9 published by www.quarrybooks.com.It is full of interesting textured and innovative yarns with clear instructions on how to spin them (although you do have to know how to spin -it is not a beginners book). There are projects too but I rarely want to follow some one else's projects preferring to invent my own.

The Dye Garden -or rather bits of it in January.The first snowdrops are out.When Enys came three days ago there was no sign of them but today here they are. Here too is some very healthy looking weld and my Chinese Woad.



My health is continuing to improve with some minor setbacks. An investigation has shown no further complications,which is very good news. As the Consultant said I have "just" had pneumonia but she did say this is a serious illness and I can expect it to take three months before I feel like my old self :(
While in recovery from my recent investigation I read more on mordanting and also Brazilwood as Debbie Bamford is running a red dyeing workshop on the Online Guild in March. She wants us to put some into soak now as it improves with age. I haven't done it that yet but I will tomorrow.
Mordanting:I have written 7 pages so far on the history of mordanting, the use of mordants worldwide and on alum .What do I do? Extract some of it for the blog or publish the whole lot.What do you think? How much do you want to read about mordanting?

A lovely book and I am in it!

Look what popped through my letter box two days ago! This is Textiles Now by Drusilla Cole published by Laurence King http://www.laurenceking.co.uk/ ISBN 978-185669-572-5. It is book of glorious photos of Textile Art. Some of the artists in it are ones that I know like fellow blogger and batik artist Robin Paris and Isabella Whitworth, who paints the most fabulous scarves, as well as some of my favourite artists such as Alice Kettle whose stunning and huge embroidered textiles I have admired for a very long time. ( I have one of her preliminary sketches for the Odyssey). And lots and lots of fabulous work by artist new to me that now I shall look out for . The colours and the textures are fabulous and the quality of the book is outstanding I think. And I am in it too.! I am so proud to be in such a fantastic collection of work. It really made my day, as it is the first time I have ever appeared in a collection of work. Dru contacted me shortly after my father died in January 2007 which gave me a boost at the time. She had seen my name on Natural Dyes Online and then had gone to have look at my photos on my website. It shows how good it is to have an Internet presence. The two picture she chose were Sea and Sand and the Rough Sea both sold, the Rough Sea recently. Below is the Rough Sea and another Sea and Sand also sold, part of the same series as you can see from the name but not actually the one in Dru's books as I can't it find that on on my computer -odd. Oh well.

Here is the picture of the wall at the local gallery with my current pictures on it. Not a brilliant photo I am afraid as I had real problems with the reflection in the glass.

Oh! I forgot to say yesterday was my blogaversary! My blog is now one year and one day old.