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A Beginner’s Guide To Dyeing and Sewing
12 Step-By-Step Lessons and 21 Projects To Get You Started
Clémentine Lubin

Search Press
11 January 2018/ ISBN 9781782215554
How-To Books/ Fabric Craft

Reviewed by Rachel Hyde

 

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.

 

UK Reviewer: Rachel Hyde's work can be found in The Bead Magazine, Making Jewellery and www.craftsuprint.com/rachel-a-hyde/
Reviewed 2017
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