Book Review: Discover Shibori by Debbie Maddy

Book cover image of Discover Shibori by Debbie Maddy

This is the shibori book that was missing from the array of books out there. Before this book came out, there were very basic books that showed you a couple of folds and maybe even suggest you use RIT dye, and at the other end of the spectrum, books by Yoshiko Wada, which are comprehensive, expensive, but also, not actually step-by-step how-to books.

If you’re looking for a full color, how-to book by an expert in the field, this book is the one you’ve been waiting for. You may know Debbie Maddy from her fabric line, her in-person workshops or her online classes.

The book covers a dash of history and background and dives into how to actually both do the various types of bound-resist, AND how to do them with natural indigo. Roughly half the book is on doing stitch-resist, a technique the author is known for and which allows for complex and detailed patterns.

One of the things I most appreciate about this book is that she shows you various folds and then says, okay, if you clamp it like this, you’ll get this result, this kind of pattern. If you clamp that same fold like THIS, you’ll get this other pattern.

No other book on shibori does that. She’s teaching us how to understand the process, how to predict the outcomes.

If you want to learn to do shibori with natural indigo, run, don’t walk to your nearest bookstore or computer and buy this book. You’ll love it. If you want to do the folds and then dye them with fiber reactive dyes (tie-dyes), still get the book. Everything about folding, clamping, stitching, all of the pattern creation methods stay exactly the same, even if you use a different dye.

If you want to go that way, I recommend Dharma trading company’s tie-dye dye, called Indigo. It’s the color indigo. Natural indigo isn’t a simple blue, it’s a color with lots of depth and undertones, and Dharma worked for years to recreate that color, as much as is possible, with fiber reactive dye. I use it, it’s terrific.

Not sure what to do with the fabrics you dye? The book also has 5 projects, including a whole quilt pattern. (I’m most interested in the how-to fold section, and having her instructions, in writing, for mixing and caring for an organic indigo vat.)

Photography is excellent, instructions are clear and easy to follow.

Who this book is for: anyone who wants to learn shibori/bound resist methods. Perfect for beginners, but also helpful to the intermediate dyer, and anyone who wants to learn the stitched methods.

P.S. – I think the official release date for this book is October 28th, I already have my copy because I pre-ordered it.