If you’ve ever seen the colourful work of Freida Anderson, you will know that she hand-dyes all of her fabrics. And if you read Freida’s blog Walks in the Woods, you can pick up all sorts of dyeing, fusing and design tips that she shares from time to time. But now you don’t have to go scrolling through her blog to find this information because it can be found in one useful book – Fabric to Dye For: Create 72 Hand-Dyed Colors for Your Stash; 5 Fused Quilt Projects.
This 80 page book published by C&T Publishing is squarely aimed at the first time dyer. About a third of the book is devoted to the basics of dyeing including:
- sourcing supplies and equipment;
- setting up your dyeing workspace;
- preparing your dyes and fabric;
- dyeing 12-step colour wheel gradations in dark, medium and light values;
- dyeing 6-step gradations in complementary colours and colour family sets;
- flat dyeing and using resists;
- washing and drying your fabrics.
This is followed by a six page quilt gallery; a ten page section of fusing and finishing basics (fused binding, pillow-case finish, pleated sleeves and labels) and five fused projects with increasing complexity (Jack in the Pulpit, Irises, a dog portrait, Autumnal Trees, and Amish Leaves.) There are lots of bright photos to get you in the mood (who can resist the lolly-like appeal of colour gradations?!) although several of close-ups suffer from the streaky interference lines of the moiré effect.
Frieda uses a method of pre-soaking fabrics in soda-ash solution and then applying dye solutions made from simple formulae using cup, tablespoon and teaspoon measurements. It’s not rocket science, it’s not hard and it’s not novel but that’s the point. For someone who is new to the wonder of dyeing, the book presents clear step-by-step instructions to get started.
Yes, similar dyeing resources are available online for free including:
- Paula Burch’s All About Hand-Dyeing
- The Lazy Dyer by Melody Johnson
- Terri Stegmiller’s Two Colour Gradations
and there are other excellent books that cover similar, but not identical, territory. Just the same, I wish Frieda’s book Fabric to Dye For had been available when I first started dyeing fabrics.
PS: Frieda is a fellow tutor at the Australasian Quilt Convention from 29 April – 2 May in Melbourne.
Lisa says
Her book is already on my wish list. I’m hoping to buy it soon because it looks like it will be a great reference book to have around.
geni says
Thank you very much for this review!
Her book is one of several books about dyeing on my wishlist.