A Garden to Dye For

If you love the outdoors and creating, we found your new favorite book: A Garden to Dye For: How to Use Plants from the Garden to Create Natural Colors for Fabrics and Fibers by Chris McLaughlin! Of course, one can argue that natural plant-based dyes are as traditional as it gets. But in the modern world, ready-made synthetic dyes have become the norm. It’s so easy to step into a craft store and find a rainbow of powdered and liquid dyes. However, if you’re a crafty person who appreciates nature, this title is for you. Even if you don’t have a green thumb, her book provides enough guidance and encouragement to get you going. And if you do? It’s an amazing, informative encyclopedia that’s sure to become a staple in your garden. -- Kirsten Nunez If you are a keen gardener and a nervous would-be-dyer, interested in safe natural dyeing project to do with children, then this fun and attractive book will help you select a few plants, get necessary equipment together, mordant if necessary, and start dyeing using cold water, hot water or solar dyeing methods. This is an inspiring, and distinctive book. Every homesteader, homeschooler, crafter, gardener, educator, and fibre artist owes it to themselves to grab this book and a cup of chai and breathe deeply of the inspiration, joy, and stimulation that exudes from every page. The book is aesthetically beautiful as if each page was dipped in a dye vat and then salted to spray the colour, like elderberry blossoms, across the page -- joybileefarm