Chinese Plants Dyeing Guide Techniques for Creating Natural Dye Projects at Home

The art of plant dyeing in China boasts a long history, offering a natural, rustic beauty that chemical dyes lack. This book explores traditional Chinese plant dyeing techniques using nine plants from six color families: red, yellow, blue, purple, brown, and black. It covers the basics of plant dyeing, including the properties of common dyes, mordant selection, and preparation steps. You'll learn special techniques and multi-color printing methods to enhance your skills. Step-by-step instructions and illustrations guide you through extracting colors from plants, revealing the variations in hues under different conditions. The book also shows how to incorporate plant dyeing into crafts like tie-dyeing, embroidery, and sewing to create clothing, home decor, and decorative items. By showcasing traditional Chinese color systems, the book inspires creativity and promotes eco-friendly, sustainable crafting. Rich in illustrations and practical content, it is a comprehensive guide for dyeing enthusiasts, offering a deeper connection to nature’ s beauty and artistic expression.

Zhou Jiao is a teacher in the Fiber Art Department at the Nanjing University of the Arts’ School of Design. With over 12 years of experience in design education and research in the cultural and creative fields, she specializes in teaching and practicing hand printing, embroidery art, quilting art, fiber art, and textile design. With her extensive research and creative experience, her works have been selected for numerous exhibitions and competitions both domestically and internationally, where they earned significant awards and recognition.