Natural Dyes, Plants & Processes

I will almost certainly never have cause to use the information from _Natural Dyes_. Still, being somewhat of a "19th century man", (with a nod to Mr. Blankenship who brought this book to my attention) and someone who is genuinely curious about all sorts of random things, I am very impressed with this book. The instructions for finding, creating and dying natural fibers are broken down into very simply steps with recepies and photos, making the entire process very simple. A few things that impressed me the most: (1) "mordanting" - or fixing - colors. Kramer recommends a variety of "fixers" to adhere the dye to the fabric. (He recommends wool, although linen, cotton and silk are also discussed briefly throughout the book.) A suprise to me, the type of mordant you use (be it chrome, tin, iron, alum or copper) effects the color the dye will take. As is standard, recepies and directions (and precautions) are very clear, with photos to illustrate. (2) Mixing (and "color combinations') - we all remember the Le Bon color triangle (primary and secondary colors) - Kramer provides some tips for "top dying" - dipping the fabric in more than one dye to create a different hue. Very interesting stuff. (3) The "dyers' garden." I read and re-read this section, as I was fascinated by the variety of plants that are used to dye, and the non-intuitive colors they give off. For example, peach and heather dye green; plum leaves dye khaki; and lichen dye an orange-yellow. (4) The color chart at the end of the book was marvelous: pages of naturally dyed wool illustrating the variation in color, hue and tint depending on the plant used and whether the fabric was "bloomed" (a brightening process by adding tin and cream of tartar to the dye) or "saddened" (a muting process where iron is added to the dye). WIth this chart and the recepies and instructions, you can get a very good idea of what the finished product will be. For those interested in natural dyes, this has it all. For those of us who won't dye, its a very interesting intellectual exercise.