Working on my dream project

My eBook was a little seed of an idea that turned into a really exciting and rewarding project that I completed over 4 months. It wasn’t until I started writing that I realised quite how much I had to say on plant dyeing; it soon became something much more detailed that I had originally imagined.

I was inspired to start this project by the amazing community on Instagram. I’d been receiving many questions about my dyeing processes and I always happily shared my ‘tips’. But I always had so much more to say in a comment or Instagram post and felt like there was a little spark of an idea. I could write an eBook to share my ideas/research/methods with the natural dyeing and craft community and have a lovely record for myself at the end of it.

I spent a few months dyeing many swatches of fabric and yarn, as well as photographing dye plants. I decided on the section titles at the beginning and gradually added more as I started writing and building the book. The final thing is a complete guide to dyeing, right from washing and preparing fabric, to gathering plants, extracting dye from plants, dyeing fibres, then finally testing for colour fastness. This is the process that I use each time I dye and I’ve interspersed tips and additional information throughout the book.

Many drafts were read and edited and I ended up with something that I feel really proud of. It was truly a dream project for me. I look back to projects I did at university years which I thought I enjoyed but nothing truly compares to this. I think it’s because the idea evolved slowly and it was mine from the beginning. I wasn’t told by anyone that I had to write it or given a date that I had to finish it. It was a seed that grew slowly and steadily and my heart was in it the whole time. I relished every moment I spent researching, writing, dyeing samples and photographing the pages.

My vision was to make the pages seem quite real, in the sense that they look like a real scrapbook of fabric swatches. Every page was laid out and photographed with only minor editing to bring out the truest colours.

I enjoyed designing the front cover most of all. I laid out fabric samples and some of my favourite dye plants on a sketchbook page and simply photographed it laid out on my much loved avocado skin scarf. I then had a vision for a handletterd title! I knew that this wasn’t something that I could do myself as I don’t have a any skills or talent in this area.

At this point, my mind instantly turned to Katrina Sophia who is an artist and had recently began a 100 day hand lettering challenge. I knew her beautiful writing would be the perfect finishing touch for my book! Thankfully Katrina was delighted to get involved and I love the natural, handmade touch that her lettering brings to the book. I felt that this personal touch of handwriting was especially important since the book is an electronic book and not a printed book — for now anyway! I have plans to print some copies in the near future!

Above you can see some of Katrina‘s test lettering. I love the fluid, natural style of her writing. Not only is her lettering on the front cover, but she wrote every section title throughout the book as well!