Natural Dyeing Handmade Book

For this project, I investigated TED’s TEN strategies for a sustainable future (http://www.tedresearch.net/teds-ten/). I chose to focus on number 10 - 'Design Activism' and made a book about Natural Dyeing.

A book that explains everything, how natural dyes work, what you can use from your kitchen or garden, which fibers work best and why, mordants etc.

I have always wanted to try Natural Dyeing, and this was the perfect opportunity. I learnt a lot, and I wrote everything down, creating a dyeing diary of all the processes step by step.

I have always been interested in the 'Slow Design' movement and in taking time to understand and enjoy the process of creating something. This project was a personal journey and I chose to show this by making this book completely by hand. All the steps and processes were hand-written, accompanied by hand-drawings of the plants, vegetables and fruits but also of the equipment used.

Next to each Natural Dye process, I have hand-stitched my samples of the dye on linen, silk, wool and cotton.

The book was hand-bound, and the cover was made from all the extra samples I had dyed. I used different stitching techniques to put the cover together, exploring the concept of 'Slow'.