Eco Colour by India Flint

[David]

This book is certainly an indispensable resource if your getting into the insanity of dying your own fabrics. What I was hoping for was a book that would be like a recipe book, all neat and tidy. 

Pretty Blue:
1tsp of cloud
1/2 cup of sky
3 litres of sea water 

mix sift cloud in to sky and mix with sea. Dip your cloth into to it and hey presto... Pretty Blue!

Not so quick fool. This turns out to be a far more complicated process than I imagined. There are so many variables involving the mordant, dye and the processes that it made me feel quiet hopeless to begin with. The book isn't laid out, possibly as well as it could be and I feel that India uses far too many words and information and "by the ways". I must admit I like to just read a book and find the facts and information I'm after without being distracted. I'm also a great believer in saving my brain cells for the important information, anything additional is a waste of brain space.  Saying that, she certainly does convey the fact that, really it comes down to experimentation. I will certainly get much use from her book, not as a recipe book, but rather a reference book to promote experimentation and creativity. If it does overwhelm you, it makes a great coffee table book, my apologies India, that is perhaps the meanest thing ever said about Eco Colour. However if you do find your self reading about the benefits of human urine over cats urine, you can't say you weren't warned. 

3.5 Stars.

useful quick links:

http://www.indiaflint.com/

http://www.dyeman.com/natural%20Dye%20recipe.htm