Natural Color Vibrant Plant Dye Projects for Your Home and Wardrobe

A beautiful book of seasonal projects for using the brilliant spectrum of colors derived from plants to naturally dye your clothing and home textiles.

Organized by season, Natural Color is a beautifully photographed guide to the full range of plant dyes available, drawn from commonly found fruits, flowers, trees, and herbs, with accompanying projects. Using sustainable methods and artisinal techniques, designer, artist, and professor Sasha Duerr details achievable ways to apply these limitless color possibilities to your home and wardrobe. Whether you are new to dyeing or more practiced, Duerr's clear and simple ingredients lists, step-by-step instructions, and detailed breakouts on techniques such as shibori, dip-dye, and block printing will ensure beautiful results. With recipes to dye everything from dresses and sweaters to rugs and napkins, Natural Color will inspire fashion enthusiasts, home decorators, textile lovers, and everyone else who wants to bring more color into their life.

SASHA DUERR is an artist, designer, and advocate for the slow fashion movement who works with organic dyes, alternative fibers, and the creative reuse of materials. She is a professor at the California College of the Arts with a joint appointment in textiles and fine arts. Her work has been shown in galleries and museums across the United States and abroad. In 2007 Duerr founded the Permacouture Institute with the Trust for Conservation Innovation to encourage the exploration of fashion and textiles from the ground up. Her extensive work with plant-based dyes and ecological principles through local land-based sources and community has been featured in the New York Times, American Craft Magazine, Selvedge, and the Huffington Post. She is the author of The Handbook of Natural Plant Dyes.

CONTENTS 

1 LIVING COLOR: AN INTRODUCTION 
11 THE PRACTICE OF PLANT DYEING 

43 SPRING 
52 CREATING COLOR THROUGH FOOD 

79 SUMMER 
90 THE ANCIENT PRIMARY COLORS: MADDER, WELD, AND INDIGO 
122 THE SPECTRUM OF NATURAL COLOR 

131 FALL 
150 NATURAL COLOR FROM PERSIMMON 
169 THE ART OF MEDICINAL DYEING 

175 WINTER 
202 WEEDING YOUR WARDROBE 

209 WORKBOOK 
211 MORDANTS AND MODIFIERS 
235 TECHNIQUES