I’ve discovered another really great book on natural dyeing! Indigo, Madder, and Marigold by Trudy Van Stralen is a thoroughly enjoyable read. It’s got lots and lots of gorgeous photos, and great tips on doing large dye runs. She tells a little bit about herself and how she dyes (outdoors in these enormous, wonderful dye pots!) and how she manages to keep everything straight. There’s a great idea for a natural dye workshop, if you’re planning to teach a group of people, and some tips on streamlining long dyeing days.

Then she goes through dyestuff by dyestuff and explains how she likes to use it, what it does with which mordants, and what it looks like at different percentages and on different fibers. The photos are eye-popping. This is one I’d like to add to my personal collection eventually, as it makes a good reference book. You just flip to the section on mordants or pick a dyestuff and read up.

Pages and pages of colored chips showing the colors that can be attained, then lists of the plants and how to get the colors (which mordants to use, whether to use heat or decomposition)—all the nitty gritty details. Oh, and which part of the plant to use! I found that extremely helpful. It’s one thing to say, “silver maple makes X color,” but do you have to stuff the entire tree in the pot?

Then, after they go through by color, they go through again by plant. Most of the plants have a color photograph to help you recognize them. I personally wish they had listed the plants by region instead of just saying “this plant ranges from . . .” But the information is presented very concisely. It’s not at all a chatty book. Very straightforward, and it tells you what you need to know.