Batik (The Art of Crafts) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is exactly what I wanted: a strong, clear, detailed guide to the techniques involved in creating works in batik - pictures, scarves, cushion covers. It's full of illustrations which made it easy to follow but it also encouraged me to be more ambitious, trying out techniques which were quite new to me. Good for a beginner, therefore, but also good for those who already know about batik but want to get to grips with new ideas!

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Batik is an ancient craft involving painting and dyeing fabrics that have been masked with a wax resist to produce both subtle and bright color combinations. Sarah Tucker has brought the craft up to date, explaining in easy steps how to achieve attractive results. Beautifully illustrated with full-color photographs, the text focuses on techniques which can be applied to the variety of projects described. Batik provides practical help to beginners, and inspiration to those who have already tried this enjoyable craft.

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Transforming Fabric: Thirty Creative Ways to Paint, Dye and Pattern Cloth Review

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(More customer reviews)I have read many "how to books" that are advertisments for their
products or books bragging about their wonderful artwork but this book tells all! It is very easy to understand and tells
exactly how to get the results wanted. What a refreshing change!

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Early textile dyers signed oaths that they would not reveal any of the process. Fortunately, author Carolyn Dahl openly shares the secrets of dyeing, painting, and patterning beautiful cloth she has gleaned in art schools. This guide is the next best thing to having a master artist in the studio. Entertaining stories awaken memories of childhood colouring books, leaf prints, ironon designs and the tie-dyed T-shirts most of us experienced at some point in our lives. Readers will be inspired as they follow step-by-step photographs and instructions full of hints and secrets for using luminous colour to transform white cloth into artistic masterpieces. Connoisseurs of the decorative arts and those who are merely curious about the fabrics they wear and use in everyday life will find much to interest them.

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Fabric Dyeing For Beginners Review

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(More customer reviews)Fabric dyeing is one of those things that appeals to our primitive finger-painting urges. It's messy, colorful, and very satisfying. Vimala McClure's book for beginners, which grew originally from a popular magazine article, is just the ticket if you've been contemplating giving this a try. McClure approaches the somewhat daunting prospect of chemicals, rubber gloves, and stained sinks with enthusiasm, but also with practical sense. She knows that busy women need ways to fit these processes into their other responsibilities, and so breaks the processes up into small, manageable pieces that can be done over several days. Several different dyeing techniques are explored, including pickle-jar, fabric-fold, tie-dye, and stencil methods. The technical details are nicely balanced by photos of many styles of quilts that make us of hand-dyed fabrics.

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For the many people who love hand-dyed fabrics but think they are too difficult to make, Vimala McClure presents an easy to do technique that is convenient and gentle on the pocketbook. The author says, 'I use methods that are simple to understand and that can be broken down into steps to be completed on separate days.' Because her dyeing process is done in small batches, there is minimal mess to clean up. Worked in small jars or a plastic bin, luminous fabrics with exciting patterns can be made in a total of two to three hours. Using widely available dye products, which are listed in the resources section, the author provides dye recipes for mixing batches of 12 different colors or, for more variety, 24 colors. She shows how to make intriguing color mixtures, single-color gradations and multiple color gradations. With a cookbook approach and step by step photos, the author demonstrates tie dyeing, Shibori-like dyeing, fold dyeing, and overdyeing, each method illustrated with examples of wonderful fabric swatches and quilt blocks. She also describes how to make simple stencils for sponging or spraying to add pizzazz to any fabric.

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Fabric Dyer's Dictionary: 900+ Colors, Specialty Techiniques, The Only Dyeing Book You'll Ever Need Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is an excellent guide for creating specific colors and color ranges with procion mx fiber reactive dyes. The book begins with a very brief outline of precautions, tools, how to mix the dyes and some general dye instructions and then moves right into the formulas for mixing colors. Formulas are calculated for dyeing fat quarters in 1 quart bags or 1 yard pieces in 1 gallon bags so if you work in different sizes than that you'll need to adjust the formulas accordingly. Chapters are broken down by colors; yellows, oranges, reds, purples, blues, greens and blacks and each chapter outlines how to dye clear and muted colors with ranges from dark to light and complementary cross. There's also a chapter on dyeing rainbows in clear dark/light and muted dark/light as well as some information on specialty techniques such as dyeing obre, twisting, layering and pleating and dipping.
If you're working with cold water procion mx type fiber reactive dye and you want to be able to produce consistent color results then you'll find this book an invaluable reference.

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Lays flat for easy use--the ultimate color reference guide. Now you have Linda's personal 'recipe book' to mix any colors you can imagine. Learn how to make rainbows, subtle gradations, and unique patterns using common brands of dye, and then use your hand-dyed fabric for any project from quiltmaking to wearables to fiber art.

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Tie Dye The How-To Book Review

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(More customer reviews)This book has excellent illustrations on how to tie-dye but I was disappointed that there were no pictures illustrating the final product. For someone with limited knowledge of tie-dying, I had to guess what the project would look like after it was completed. Otherwise, it is a very helpful guide.

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Learn the secrets of tie dying and create your own beautiful fabrics. Tie dying is an ancient art form developed in the Far East over a thousand years ago. This user-friendly book will show you how to create seven unique and beautiful designs. Clear, simple instructions, including photos of each stage of the tying and dying, will guide you through the process. Full color photos show the stunning results possible. Includes a source listing for permanent, high quality dyes.

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Dyes & Paints: A Hands-On Guide to Coloring Fabric Review

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(More customer reviews)I didn't give this book 5 stars because it has one fault. It's price!! But save up and buy it because it has the most comprehensive information in one package. It gives even the beginner a flying start in the art of dyeing. lin Noble tells you about how to use resists and fiber-reactive dyes; how to marble and how to use direct application dyeing, immersion dyeing,and paints to use on textiles. She includes the recipies for each project and a lot of background information that build you knowledge not just "parroting" styles. Once you have read this book, you have the foundations to move beyond the basics and develope your own ideas. There are resources in the back for the people in the US but not much use for those of us from overseas.
Excellent and a must for any fabric artist's bookshelf

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