‘News in the Margins’ has been pretty quiet during the pandemic but I’m thrilled to break the silence to let you know about the re-release of Jenny Dean’s ‘A Heritage of Colour’.
This book has been out of print for a few years and the author has taken the plunge of self publishing it. I have spoken rather often about how invaluable Jenny’s ‘Wild Colour’ has been in my own natural dyeing journey and I’m so excited to be able to get my hands on this volume too.
I love Jenny’s ‘how to’ approach, her emphasis on learning by doing and developing ones own personal practice, her respect of past generations of learning, and her respect for the environment whose bounty we explore in our dye practice.
Self publishing is no small leap of faith and financial outlay so here’s the details if you too want to develop your practice and deepen your understanding of Natural Dyeing.
The practical details: The book is a spiral bound, richly colour illustrated 160 pages which,
‘covers all the basics of natural dyeing and the techniques that can be used to create a wealth of colours from over 50 plants, with photos of dyed samples for each plant. A Heritage of Colour also describes some of the dyes and methods from the past and considers how they can be adapted for use today. There are sections on the history of dyeing, contact printing on fabric using plant materials, dyeing with fungi and frozen flowers and creating multi-coloured skeins and fabrics.’
Source: jennydean298 instagram announcement
The book can be bought directly from Jenny herself (£16.00 inc UK postage), email her for details at jandrdean(at)aol.com or from the Ditchling Museum (16.99 plus postage), which also has a range of natural dyeing resources including dye plant seeds….
Please beware: I’m pretty sure this is not the last time you’ll hear me talking about this book here on the blog…