William Morris's essay on dyeing as an art, contrasting traditional natural dyeing with the commercial aniline dyes that he argues have nearly destroyed it. He describes the four base colours (blue, red, yellow, brown) and the dyestuffs for each: indigo and woad, kermes, cochineal, madder, weld, walnut and catechu. He also covers mixing for green, purple and black, the difference between substantive and mordant (adjective) dyes, indigo vat practice, alum mordanting, and the fading of dyes as seen in Gothic tapestries.

An essay by William Morris on designing for textiles, covering five ways of ornamenting woven cloth: tapestry, carpet-weaving, mechanical weaving, printing or painting, and embroidery. Morris argues for Gothic and medieval models, clear structure and bold silhouette, and designs suited to each material and process. He criticizes commercial 'improvements', coal-tar dyes, Japanese imitations and 18th-century patterns. It closes with general maxims on pattern design.