I have read and used many books for hand dyeing fabrics. Color By Accident by Ann Johnston is of extremely high quality. It is written much like a cookbook, with clear measures, clear directions and ample support for further creativity. This is not a tie-dyeing manual. It will help the ardent fabric dyer create wonderful materials usable for any type of sewing project. And it is an excellent introduction for those who have never tried this process and don't know where to begin. It is fully resourced, providing information on obtaining everything you will need to proceed.

As a quilter, who dyes her own fabric, I was disappointed in this book. First, I think her recipe for stock dyes uses a LOT of dye. Procion dyes are not inexpensive and she recommends 2 Tablespoons of dye/cup of water. In most receipes I have used, the yellows use 1 T of dye in 1 cup of water, blues use 2 teaspoons, and reds 1 teaspoon. The author makes no differentiation between colors of dye in her measurements even though the dye companies and all of the other books I have used, do. I think 2 T/cup is overkill and wasteful.

Second, I don't understand her process for adding Soda Ash. I don't think it works well and felt that a lot of the color washed out of the fabrics as a result. Most of the books I've worked with recommend pre-soaking the fabric and this seems to work much better. (They use a lot less dye in their stocks and the colors are brighter.)

Finally, I tried some of her recipes in the book and was disappointed with the results. The colors on the top of the value parfait were too weak and none of the fabrics in that batch had the texture of fabrics dyed by the processes recommended in Dyeing for Quilters, Fabric Dyeing for Beginners, and Robbi Eklow's new book. I ended up over-dyeing them to salvage the fabric. They are the first pieces I've dyed in 6 months that I didn't like.

However, for individuals who want a simple approach to fabric dyeing this book may work well. It simplifies the dye formulas (by using large quantities of dye and omitting salt) and reduces the steps involved in dyeing value runs and color runs. If you don't mind spending the money on dyes, her approach is easy to follow and can yield decent results. I would recommend more agitation and squeezing in the value parfaits to get adequate dye and soda ash into the center of the fabric.

For folks, who don't mind a few more steps, I think the books mentioned above cover the subject of fabric dyeing much more extensively.

This is a excellent book for people wanting to do silk or cotton dying. It is easy to understand and has a lot of project to do that are quite easy. It has a lot of ideas and allowes you to use you imagination to create different colors and abstract patterns. No two projects will look identical.

If you have ever wanted a definitive resource on alternative dyeing technique using Procion dyes, this is it! Ann Johnston is the authority on dyeing with these fiber-reactive dyes, and here she gives the basis for the type of dyeing that is so popular today: low-water immersion dyeing. She teaches the method using many different recipes which are revolutionary; at least to me they were! Going through the recipes, the reader will learn how to apply these same techniques using other color combinations. Most unique was the layered-dyeing technique called "parfait", which yields three different-colored fabrics from the SAME dyepot. Incredible!

All in all, this was just the book I'd hoped it would be, and then some. I've been using it now for about four years, and not once have I been disappointed with the results of my fabrics. For those interested in regular vat dyeing and direct application techniques, she also give basic instructions and recipes for these, too.

This book will hook you into dyeing for good!