Dye recipes are mixed from concentrated Procion Mx dye stocks to create unique, one of a kind fabrics. If you have a little bit of dyeing experience this book will help you stretch your wings. You will soon find yourself mixing colors you never thought would work together in the same bucket.
Creating Color - A Dyer's Handbook (1989) by Judy Anne Walter - When I first started dyeing there was a limited amount of information about dyeing fabrics in print. This book thoroughly covers all aspects of what you need to know about dyeing gradients of solid colors. My favorite part of this book was the chapter on the characteristics of different dye colors. Judy also has tables that deal with converting weights and measures. This book has an number of detailed illustrations. There are a couple of the draw backs to this book. One is the lack of color photography. This book was published before color photographs were common in books. Another is the dye color chart in the back of the book is out of date. This book is out of print but easy to find inexpensively. I recommend this book if you really want to understand the chemistry behind the dyes.
Fabric Dyer's Dictionary (2010) by Linda Johansen. This book takes the guesswork out of combining dye colors. The Fabric Dyer's Dictionary contains extensive dye recipes and color photographs of each resulting fabric color. The main focus of the book is dyeing solid color gradients of various types. The book includes dyes made using complementary colors, mixing primary colors to make secondary and tertiary colors, using dyes at weaker strengths to create pastels or adding black to make darker shades of color. The book also briefly touches on a few specialty dyeing techniques. This is a book you will find yourself referring back to over and over again.
Fabric To Dye For (2010) by Frieda Anderson. I would have loved to have owned this book when I was first learning how to dye. It is packed full of tips about proper tools and ways to set up your dyeing area. The recipes are made using 4 dye colors, 3 primary colors and a black. Various dyeing techniques are discussed. This book also has a bonus section with fusible projects you can make with your newly dyed fabrics. I would recommend this book to both novice and expert fabric dyers.
Tray Dyeing - Exploring Colour, Texture & Special Effects (2006) Leslie Morgan & Claire Benn, Committed to Cloth. If you want to take your fabric dyeing to the next level this is the book for you. These ladies introduce ideas only briefly touched upon in other books. There is a bonus DVD included in this book that I found very informative. I did find the content in this book to be a bit light. In my opinion this book was written with the premise of sparking an idea in the reader and then letting the reader reach their own results. If you like to experiment and draw your own conclusions then I recommend this book wholeheartedly (I do really love this book). On the other hand if you are a reader that needs evidence of concrete results you may not be happy with this book.
Shibori Designs and Techniques (2009) by Mandy Southan. Are you new to Shibori Dyeing? This book has easy to follow directions. The color photographs in this book are truly inspirational. I drooled over this book for a couple months after I purchased it. If you have some prior dyeing experience then I recommend this book to you.
Shibori: The Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped Resist Dyeing (1999) by Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada, Mary Kellogg Rice and Jane J. Barton. I'm almost tempted to send you the Amazon.com website to read the reviews written for this book. I'll just quote one written by someone calling themselves Vizzz "The most complete book in print on Shibori art and technique". That pretty much sums this book up.
If you want to expand your Shibori skills this book is a must have for your dyer's library.
Do you have favorite fabric dyeing reference books? I'd love to hear about them.
