DYE RESOURCE BOOK LIST

Adrosko, Rita J.
Dover Publications, Inc.
180 Varick St., New York, NY 10014
Copyright 1971

This is an unabridged and corrected reproduction of the work originally published in 1968 as United States National Museum Bulletin No. 281 under the title "Natural Dyes in the United States", which was published by the Smithsonian Institution Press.

This is a historically oriented volume, focusing on the dyestuffs used in America in the 18th & 19th centuries. There is an extensive bibliography and a set of appendices which focus on information from even older dye manuals. It contains over 150 recipes and is an excellent sourcebook for those interested in historically accurate dye materials and techniques.

North American Dye Plants

Bliss, Anne
Loveland, Colorado
Interweave Press, 1993
ISBN 0-934026-89-0

Anne lives in the Northern Colorado foothills and so her book has a leaning toward the natural materials available in this part of the country.

A nice little book that is a valuable guide for anyone who would like to learn more about plants that are suited for brewing natural dyes. Nice drawings, small "cartable" size. A good resource book for plants for a dye garden.

Weeds: A Guide for Dyers

Bliss, Anne
Boulder, Colorado: Juniper House, 1978
ISBN 0-931870-01-1

This book gives the historic and contemporary usefulness of fifth easily recognized "weeds" along with hints for preparing edible weeds and complete instructions for dyeing. A useful reference book.

Early American WEAVING and DYEING

Bronson, J. and R
The Domestic Manufacturer's Assistant and Family Directory
in the Arts of Weaving and Dyeing
Dover Publications, 1977

This volume, with an introduction by Rita J. Adrosko, Curator, Division of Textiles, National Museum of History and Technology, is an unabridged and slightly corrected reproduction of the work originally published in 1817 under the name which is now the sub-title.

The dye recipes in here are definitely historically accurate. For example, a recipe for a good black on cotton calls for 2-1/2 pounds of logwood, 1-1/2 pounds of sumac, 1/2 peck of stone lime, 1 pound 8 ounces copperas, 12 ounces fustic, and 4 ounces hog's lard to dye 5 pounds of cotton yarn.

It is a wonderful historical reference and besides the dye recipes, if one is a weaver there are some great historical weave patterns in the book as well. Anyone who weaves will no doubt recognize the name Bronson.

Lichens for Vegtable Dyeing

Bolton, Eileen M
Newton Centre, MA
Charles T. Branford Company, 1960

Nice little book that gives detailed descriptions of many lichens and how to use them. Not a lot of color but there are color paintings of groups of lichens. No color photos of dyed fiber.

The Weaving, Spinning, and Dyeing Book

Brown, Rachel
Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 1983

Ms. Brown's work was done at the Craft House in Arroyo Seco, New Mexico, but most of her dye recipes widely available materials.

Another favorite book in this collection. Far beyond just a dye book, it covers fiber arts in such a way that if you want to get involved in this area, live far away from teachers and other sources of equipment, materials, etc., and can have only one book, this is the one to go for. It even contains full directions for building several kinds of looms, an assortment of projects with detailed directions for those looms, warping, weaving and finishing instructions; how to make a simple spinning wheel and spinning instruction, types of fiber and their properties, plying and blocking, preparing skeins for dyeing. While there are not a great number of dye recipes in the book, all are explained simply and in detail. There is also a chapter on color and design. The resource section is huge and the book has lots of line drawings and black and white photographs, and even a section of color plates, including plates of yarns dyed with natural dyes.

Navajo Native Dyes: Their Preparation and Use

Bryan, Nonabh G
Palmer Lake, Colorado
The Filter Press, 1978
ISBN 0-910584-57-5

An interesting little book about dyeing the Navajo way with a description of the traditional Navajo dyeing techniques as well as a complete description of the plants used and the colors they give. Very interesting from a historical perspective.

A Dyer's Guarden

Buchanan, Rita
Loveland, Colorado
Interweave Press, Inc. 1995
ISBN 1-883010-07-1

A great book with lots of beautiful color photos and directions for dyeing. Also has a number of garden layouts for planting your own dyer's guarden. I recommend this book.

Dye Plants and Dyeing

Cannon, John & Margaret
London, England
Herbert Press Limited, 1994

This is a lovely book. Full of beautiful illustrations. The recipes seem extensive with lots of historical information. A nice addition to the library.

Spinning and Dyeing the Natural Way

Castino, Ruth
Van Nostrand Reinhold Company
a division of Litton Educational Publishing
450 West 33rd Street
New York, NY 10001

This is the book to get if you are a teacher or have other opportunities to teach children fiber arts. The entire book focuses on methods and techniques for teaching children spinning, dyeing and various finishing techniques that are designed to catch children's interest and make for positive experience and successful completion. Chock full of black and white photographs of students from grade school through college involved in the steps of the process, and with occasional color plates where useful, this book goes from sheep to finished product in detail and patient explanation of every step. Included are instructions on off-loom weaving (on branches), backstrap weaving (instructions included), knitting (making needles out of doweling for economy), rug hooking, tapestry, embroidery, crochet, finger weaving, etc. Contained are color results with different mordants for 43 dye plants, along with basic mordant and dyebath technique.

Dyes from Your Garden

Conor, Bernice Gillette
Miami, Florida
E. A. Seemann Publishing, Inc., 1975

A cute little book with some general information on collection and preparing dye materials. The best thing about this book is the large number of dye recipes from unusual dye materials from avocado seeds to ficus to tomato vines. Some good color photos.

The Dye Pot

Davidson, Mary Frances
self-published - dated 1976
Address: Route 3
Gatlinburg, Tennessee 37738

This is a very informative, easy to read book. Her explanations on dyeing properties of fibers, information on mordanting which goes deeper than "use this to do this", and her instructions on dyeing process for each plant are excellent if somewhat varied in detail. The impression is that where measurements are needed she gives them, and often extra historical and/or regional information (plants from different areas do not always give the same colors. For example, the Highland Scots used Dandelion roots to obtain a magenta for their tartans. However, Dandelion roots in this country give yellows to creams & some greenish yellows depending upon location and mordant.) On her indigo vat instructions she even provides a trouble-shooting section for vat failures.

Another value of this book is its wide range of plants listed, including wild "weeds". Also, as this woman's location is in Tennessee, it is a good source book for Eastern U.S. dye plants.

The Craft of Natural Dyeing

Dean, Jenny
Tunbrideg Well
Kent, England: Search Press Limited, 1994
ISBN 085532744-8

Nice book with nice color photos. A good book for the dyer's library.

Nature's Colors - Dyes from Plants

Grae, Ida -Dean, Jenny
pub. Collier Books, a division of Macmillan Publishing Co, Inc.
866 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10022

A favorite dye plant book for many. Step by step instructions, lots of photos as well as drawings, diagrams, color plates, recipe book format, reference tables, cosmetic recipes, materials source listings, and sections on techniques for developing your own dye recipes and on using food and food related plants for dye sources makes this a book as easily used by the city dweller as by the country denizen.

The Art and Craft of Natural Dyeing:
Traditional Recipes for Modern Use

Liles, J.N
Knoxville, University of Tennessee Press, 1990

This book consolidates the lore of the older dyers with the author's own first-hand experience to produce both a history of natural dyes and a practical manual for using pre‹synthetic-era processes on all the natural fibers‹cotton, linen, silk and wool.

Nature's Dyepot: A Resource Guide for Spinners, Weavers & Dyers

McRae, Bobbi A
Austin, Texas: Fiberworks Publications, 1991
ISBN 0-944577-02-4

This is a book of resources. It is a little out-dated but full of good sources for : Plants and Seeds, Dried Dyestuffs and Miscellaneous Supplies and a bibliography of Select Books and Articles plus an A to Z chart of potential dye plants. A good reference book.

The Use of Vetable Dyer

Thurstan, Violetta
London, England: The Dryad Press, 1964

This book could be out of print as I found it in a used bookstore. Has a good list of usable dye plants and is a good historical reference book.

Indigo, Madder & Marigold

Van Stralen, Trudy
Loveland, Colorado: Interweave Press, Inc. 1993
ISBN 0-934026-86-6

This is a great book. It has very clear, step-by-step instructions for dyeing with all sorts of natural materials with lots of color photos showing the different colors abtainable with different mordants. A definate must for any dyer's library.

Ancient Dyes for Modern Weavers

Weigle, Palmy
New York, NY: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1974

This little book lists 125 recipes using natural dye materials and different mordants. The only color photos are on the inside front and back cover but the information is extensive.

Dyeing with Natural Materials

Las Aranas Spinners and Weavers Guild
Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1987

This booklet was prepared to be used in a workshop and has recipes for a number of plants.