Harvesting Colour How to Find Plants and Make Natural Dyes

Gardening & Environment Education & Reference Crafts & Hobbies

Harvesting Colour by Rebecca Burgess is a first-edition paperback that walks artists, gardeners, and eco-fashion lovers through North America’s dye plants from field to fabric. This 2011 Artisan volume pairs 208 illustrated pages with Burgess’s clear instructions on finding, harvesting, and coaxing colour from stems, leaves, and roots.

Inside, maps and seasonal charts steer foragers toward sustainable stands of goldenrod, madder, and cochineal, while swatches show the subtle shifts an iron bath or pH tweak can achieve. The friendly tone keeps chemistry simple, making the book a favourite reference for fashion-design students, home dyers, and slow-fashion advocates alike.

This copy is crisp and fully intact, with only a light crease on the opening leaves and occasional page-edge rubbing that never interrupts text or images. It sits square on the shelf, ready to slip into a backpack for garden walks or studio workbenches.

A first printing of Harvesting Colour in good, gently-used condition is an affordable entry point into sustainable textiles and natural dyeing; perfect for anyone ready to replace synthetic hues with colours they’ve harvested themselves.