All Natural

A new book showed up at the shop last week and I've spent a few days with it. I don't do a lot of dyeing. I don't love doing it and I have plenty of lovely friends who dye beautiful fiber for the shop and so i can get out of doing it pretty easily. But then this book showed up.

The Complete Guide to Natural Dyeing: Techniques and Recipes for Dyeing Fabrics, Yarns, and Fibers at Home written by Eva Lambert and Tracy Kendall.

At first flip through I thought "This is a pretty book." I'm always skeptical when a title says it's the complete guide, though. But I've been converted. This is a book that even a non-dyer like me could use and, I think, be successful with.

As the title says, this is about using natural dyestuffs to add color to fiber and yarn and fabric. It covers everything from the basic equipment needed to collecting your own plant matter to dye with and keeping notes so that colors can be sort of repeated.

Indigo is covered as well as Ikat, Batik and Resist dyeing. There is so much packed in this book it's amazing.

I think if you are looking to try Natural Dyeing this is a great place to start. I think if you already do some natural dyeing this could be a nice addition to your library because the women who put this all together for us have decades of experience and I'm sure there are some little nuggets in there.

If you want to check this book out you can find it in the Spinning Loft online store or in the shop.