BEHIND THE SCENES WITH THE WILD DYER

Today I am thrilled to share these photos from The Wild Dyer by Abigail Booth (Kyle Books). Dean and I styled and shot all the photos for Abigail’s beautiful first book and this is a selection of a few of our favourite pages and lots of behind the scenes images too. We had so much fun in the inspiring studio Abigail shares with her Forest + Found co-founder – Max Bainbridge (writer of the first book we worked on – The Urban Woodsman). I can’t believe I have had to keep some of these images under my hat for over a year! I was totally obsessed with Abigail’s stack of hand dyed swatches, a muted rainbow of colours all made from mother nature. In delicate gauzes and organic cotton, I love how some of the colours you end up with are not at all what you’d expect. We spent days on the allotment, in the garden and out in the forest foraging for dye plants and collecting berries and oak galls. It was lovely to spend some time outdoors in all four seasons. The dye bench in the garden was the perfect rustic backdrop for lots of the scenes and this is a garden I have totally fallen in love with ever since my first visit. Inside The Wild Dyer, there are lots projects to make including this Dyer’s apron below, that will become even more beautiful once worn and you have started to add the layers of your own dyeing story to it.  We had regular visits from the beautiful and playful Malcolm the cat. We always look forward to his daily clawing on the workbench and poking his whiskers in all the different materials we are shooting. With only half a tail and a ton of personality, he is just too lovely for words. A favourite botanical discovery on the journey of helping to create the book was dyer’s Coreopsis. As you know I am slightly in love with all things garden related and these flowers are beautiful and useful – yielding colours of yellows, oranges and browns. They look so pretty in Abigail’s allotment Dye Garden. Inside the book, you’ll find advice on how to grow your own dye plants from seed – even if you only have a small space.
Making ink from oak galls – the beautiful botanical illustrations you’ll see dotted throughout the book are by artist Lucy Augé and drawn using traditional ink made from these amazing galls that were once going to be acorns!  I couldn’t resist a few snaps from around the allotment and local gardens we passed on our travels. With practical advice, inspiring writing, subtle colours and hand stitched textures throughout, whether you are a maker or just an adorer of textile art – I think you will love this book.Hopefully, you enjoyed these pictures, and are now inspired to roll up your sleeves and get dyeing and making with Abigail?! If so just click this link to visit our online store to get yourself copy :)