This
is a basic guide to using the type of chemical dyes you can
buy in liquid or powder form, not the natural variety you
make yourself. As the author comments you need a garden plus
plenty of space and time to create these, so why not have
fun with the commercially available, modern type?
I have dabbled a little with these dyes and formerly had a
washing machine with a purple rubber seal to prove it. With
these easy-to-follow instructions, you can have better luck,
and discover what fabrics work best, what to use when and
how to get the best results. Pages are well laid out with
direct advice, often making good use of captioned photographs,
and it is easy to find the relevant section for what you want
to do. As well as an introduction showing what you need and
giving basic information, there are twelve lessons and twenty-one
projects. The lessons are all about creating effects and each
takes up a page so you can discover how to dip-dye, tie dye,
use a spray, work with wool and more. Some of the photographs
could do with being slightly larger, but the short captions
make it all pretty obvious. Before this there is a section
which deals with dyeing by hand, in the washing machine and
even in the microwave. This tells you clearly the parts the
packets sometimes leave out or make less clear (hence that
purple rubber) and all three of these methods are further
expanded on in the projects section. These projects often
involve basic sewing techniques and show simple ways (often
with diagrams) of upcycling existing items or making from
scratch a number of items. Turn old jeans into a bag with
the addition of dye and some leather, dup-dye and add fancy
cuffs to a long-sleeved white T-shirt, make a scarf, zipper
bag and even a dress with just basic materials. Or you can
merely dye things and create a tie-dyed towel, a set of matching
placemats or liven up an old cushion cover. A well-worded
book like this shows how fun and easy home dyeing can be.
If you cannot find a good range of dyes locally try www.searchpress.com
for a list of suppliers.
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