Natural Color

April 18, 2016
Duerr, a professor at California College of the Arts as well as a designer known for her work with organic dyes, shares tips for mixing pigments to produce “plant-based palettes” for clothing and home textiles. Duerr teaches dye projects—hat, blanket, curtain, bag—organized by season, as knowing what plants are in season matters when one is foraging from the wild. Spring produces avocado pit pillows. Summer’s palette includes oxalis, nettles, and roses; fall presents a madder-dyed scarf. Winter’s red cabbage dyes baby mittens. Duerr likens producing dyes from natural color to cooking: both involve finding just the right ingredients, fiddling around, and having good timing. She warns that setting up a studio for dyeing requires attention to safety, as the process involves high heat and irritants from plants and mordants (fixers). Along the way, Duerr persuasively advocates for buying clothing made by local artisans using sustainable methods. She is at the forefront of the “slow fashion” movement, from which readers can expect to see many future books.

June 1, 2016

Duerr (The Handbook of Natural Plant Dyes) takes a seasonal approach to dyeing fiber and fabric in this collection of recipes for naturally dyed textiles. Duerr was drawn to natural dyeing through her love of nature and desire to live a sustainable lifestyle. Each section opens with an overview of the season's palette, including plants appropriate for use in dyeing available during that season, whether as produce (or byproducts of produce, such as peels and skins), in the garden, or available to gather in the wild. Coverage of each individual plant includes a recipe for dye derived from the plant that can be used on any natural fiber, plus a project or two using dyed fiber, fabric, or a premade garment (such as a dress or a tunic). Overviews of mordants commonly applied in natural dyeing and different techniques (e.g., shibori, dip dyeing, resists) round out the volume. Duerr's style is narrative, and her appreciation for nature is apparent, as is her concern for the environmental impact of the consumer goods we use on a daily basis. VERDICT Duerr is knowledgeable and thorough, and fiber artists with an interest in incorporating natural dyeing into their work will find the information they need to get started, as well as insight into the dyeing process.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.