Spinning, Dyeing & Weaving: Self-Sufficiency

by Penny Walsh

Whether it’s moving to the country and starting over on a whim or just making city- living a little simpler and easier, the “Green” movement is changing the way we live our day- to-day lives. Skyhorse's Self-Sufficiency handbooks are meant to help—offering advice on what to do, how to do it better, and how to save money as well. This is a beautifully illustrated series made even more beautiful, because its goal is to help everyone live in a more earth-friendly fashion.

Weaving your own textiles is a rewarding activity—with the added benefit of knowing that the entire process can be done by hand, with little outside energy. This handbook looks at where different fibers come from, how to grow and harvest them, and how to prepare them for spinning. The principles of spinning are also included, as well as information on how to dye your fibers with natural dyestuff. Also included are numerous simple projects for decorating your home.

Genres: Nonfiction, Crafts, Art, Knitting, Reference

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Freya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice and fairly thorough (for such a thin volume) book that covers fibre type and the processing, spinning, dying and weaving of said fibres.

A nice little reference book that goes into detailed process recipes for specific dyes and mordants. I particularly liked the alternative fibres, and might hopefully try some dying at some point.

[Marceline · Rating 3 out of 5]

I spin yarn (on a spindle) and dye yarn, most recently with natural plant dyes, so I found this book endearing from that perspective. It's written in a very straightforward way, and from a less modern perspective. The tips and information are given simply, and there's an assumption in the tone that these skills are very important. It was hard not to compare the information to all we have available to us now though. I did like being able to nod my head at some of the facts and advice (things I've seen elsewhere, but it's a good reminder of how longstanding this information is). I don't currently weave, but I learned a good bit about why certain weaving techniques are used to create a fabric and to preserve it.

[Lori Gautier · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gives a nice overview of what it takes to produce textiles from the ground up. Most of the topics aren't delved into with enough detail to go from ground to finished product. It's definitely enough to be inspiring, though, and it's a great launch pad for a fiber adventure. I'm not entirely new to fiber arts and I still learned some new things and am inspired for several projects, including growing some plants for dye and using an old picture frame to weave a wall-hanging from some of my small amounts of art yarn.

[Teddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good over-view of the topics, I think, but I would probably do more research before attempting anything but the simplest instructions.

Also, I'm a little confused by the instruction that cotton has to be spun on a short draw; I learnt on cotton when I was a kid, and short draw never went well, long draw with a lot of twist was the way to go.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little book, good as an overview of the basics of spinning (both on a drop spindle and a wheel), dyeing and weaving, all based around the idea of self-sufficiency (i.e. very much focused on doing it yourself, from preparing fleeces to making looms). Probably too simplistic to learn from scratch from, but a good basic introduction.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A handy little book to have when you're about to embark on learning to spin wool! I was reading the library copy. I may have to buy my own copy

[Melanie Bee · Rating 3 out of 5]

UK-centric. A nice little book covering a large topic.