Under the Choko Tree By Nevin Sweeney

Natural Dyeing Books

Dyemaking with Eucalypts – Jean K. Carman – Rigby (AUS) 1978 ISBN 0 7270 0648 7 – The majority of this book is taken up with listings of eucalypts by (Australian) state and including Papua New Guinea, by Latin and common names, rough areas where they grow and what colour thy produce with what mordant. There is only about half a dozen pages on the process of dyeing itself and about the same number of full colour plates. A handy reference.

Natural Dyes – Gwen Fereday – British Museum Press (UK) 2003 ISBN 0 7141 2565 2 – This book has lots of full colour photos of processes and dyed yarn, there are over 500 dye recipes and a photo of what each one looks like on the yarn. There are also detailed discussions of materials and equipment required, scouring different fibres, choosing and [preparing materials, mordants etc. This is a good one!



Ancient Dyes for Modern Weavers – Palmy Weigle – Watson Guptill (US) 1974 ISBN – 0 8230 0223 3 – If you wanted to describe this book in one word it would be “fascinating”! There is a section on dyeing processes and one on mordanting but, again, the majority of the book is taken up with 125 dye recipes, split into three section. The first section covers reds, purples and blues (think madder, cochineal and indigo) the second section covers yellows, gold and oranges (think saffron, chamomile and turmeric) and the last once covers browns and black (think walnut hulls). There are colour plates on each inside cover but that is it, no diagrams of photos in the rest of the book.



Dyes from Plants of Australia and New Zealand – Joyce Lloyd – A.H & A. Reed (AUS) 1971 ISBN 0 589 00658 4 – An oldie but a goodie, this book gives a history of dying, covers equipment, preparation, mordants and fabrics and includes a series of black and white photos. The book then covers dyeing with plants native to New Zealand, plants native to Australia, common weeds mosses and lichens and also has a section on using ancient dyes. Some of the dyeing monographs also have a line drawing of the plant to which they refer.



Natural Dyes and Home Dyeing – Rita J. Adrosko- Dover Publications Inc. (US) 1971 ISBN 0 486 22688 3 – The first half of the book covers the historical context of a wide range of natural dyes and their use in the US, interesting but not much practical use. The second half provides dye recipes and processes for home dyeing using some of the materials discussed previously. A couple of colour photos dyed swatches and the odd line drawing but not much in the way of illustrations all up.



A Weavers Garden – Rita Buchanan – Dover Publications Inc. (US) 1987 ISBN 0 486 40712 8 – I love this book! Notwithstanding that it is written for US conditions, it is the only book I have ever seen on how to grow the plants as well as use them as dyes. There is even a section on setting up a garden around plants which produce fibre and dyes. A couple of colour plates and a few line drawings but not much in the way of illustrations.

Early American Weaving and Dyeing – J. And R. Bronson – Dover Publications Inc. (US) 1977 ISBN 0 486 23440 1 – This is a reprint with minor corrections of a work originally published in 1817 with lots of information about weaving but also a wide variety of colours and dye materials for dyeing cotton and wool. The chemical names of mordants are in the old style and may require a bit of research to find what they are on about. No illustrations covering the dyeing process.



Dyes from Plants – Seonaid Robertson – Van Nostrand Reinhold (US) 1973 ISBN 0 442 26975 7 – This is a very comprehensive book, introducing dyeing, discussing then use of mordants and providing monographs on a whole range of plant dyes including using the dyes of historical importance. The dyeing of cotton, linen and silk has its own chapter as does the planting of a dye garden. There is also a section on using the dyed thread and yarn. There are a couple of colour and black and white photos, but lots of line drawings to illustrate what the plants look like.

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