Rejecting traditional notions of what constitutes art, this book brings together essays on a variety of fiber arts to recoup women's artistic practices by redefining what counts as art. Although scholars over the last twenty years have turned their attention to fiber arts, redefining the conditions, practices, and products as art, there is still much work to be done to deconstruct the stubborn patriarchal art/craft binary. With essays on a range of fiber art practices, including embroidery, knitting, crocheting, machine stitching, rug making, weaving, and quilting, this collection contributes to the ongoing scholarly redefinition of women's relationship to creative activity. Focusing on women as producers of cultural products and creators of social value, the contributors treat women as active subjects and problematize their material practices and artifacts in the complex world of textiles. Each essay also examines the ways in which needlework both performs gender and, in turn, constructs gender. Moreover, in concentrating on and theorizing material practices of textiles, these essays reorient the study of fiber arts towards a focus on process"the making of the object, including the conditions under which it was made, by whom, and for what purpose"as a way to rethink the fiber arts as social praxis.

This book features the original sample collection and handwritten drafts of the talented, early 20th century weaver, Bertha Gray Hayes of Providence, Rhode Island. She designed and wove miniature overshot patterns for four-harness looms that are creative and unique. The book contains color reproductions of 72 original sample cards and 20 recently discovered patterns, many shown with a picture of the woven sample, and each with computer-generated drawdowns and drafting patterns. Her designs are unique in their asymmetry and personal in her use of name drafting to create the designs. Bertha Hayes attended the first nine National Conferences of American Handweavers (1938-1946). She learned to weave by herself through the Shuttle-Craft home course and was a charter member of the Shuttle-Craft Guild, and authored articles on weaving.

Create the Cosplay Dress of Your Dreams Design and sew a ballgown fit for cosplay royalty! A crucial part of any cosplayer's wardrobe, the right ballgown can transform you into an elegant princess or a dramatic sorcerer. But it takes more than just magic to create jaw-dropping gowns and ball-worthy dresses. Follow along with world champion cosplayers Cowbutt Crunchies as they walk sewists of all skill levels through building a ballgown with all the flourishes. This book contains everything you need to know about silhouette, planning, patterning, construction, corsets, hoop skirts, and trims. Craft your own magical fairytale masterpiece from start to finish! - Curtsy with confidence! Sew elaborate cosplay ballgowns from scratch - Take your builds to the next level with tips from award-winning cosplayers Regan and Kelley - This complete guide helps new and experienced sewists build stunning showpiece gowns

This book interprets the fiber art and craft-inspired sculpture by eight US and Latin American women artists whose works incite embodied affective experience. Grounded in the work of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, John Corso-Esquivel posits craft as a material act of intuition. The book provocatively asserts that fiber art-long disparaged in the wake of the high-low dichotomy of late Modernism-is, in fact, well-positioned to lead art at the vanguard of affect theory and twenty-first-century feminist subjectivities.

Gloriously pieced together, much like the fine garments it portrays, this colourful volume takes the reader on an international tour of indigo-coloured textiles, presenting a huge swathe of remarkable clothing, people and fabric. Catherine Legrand, who has spent over twenty years travelling and researching the subject, has a deep knowledge of the ancient techniques, patterns and clothing traditions that characterize ethnic textile design, knowledge that she deploys to great effect in seven chapters exploring the production of Indigo textiles throughout America, China, India, Africa, Central Asia, Japan and Laos/Vietnam, and the men and women behind them. This profusely illustrated photographic survey features more than 500 photographs, faithfully laid out to reproduce Catherine's actual travel notebooks, and is completed by specially commissioned drawings that provide close-ups on patterns and clothes.

This is the first dedicated book to concentrate on textiles as a major commodity, and primary indicator of status, wealth and identity in Indian Ocean regions. The volume considers the importance of trade, and the transformation of the meaning of objects as they move between different cultures; it also addresses issues of gender, ethnic and religious identity, and economic status. The book covers a broad geographic range from East Africa to South-East Asia, and references a number of disciplines such as anthropology, art history and history. This volume is timely, as both the social sciences and historical studies have developed a new interest in material culture.

A detailed study of Tudor textiles, highlighting their extravagant beauty and their impact on the royal court, fashion, and taste At the Tudor Court, textiles were ubiquitous in decor and ceremony. Tapestries, embroideries, carpets, and hangings were more highly esteemed than paintings and other forms of decorative art. In 16th-century Europe, fine textiles were so costly that they were out of reach for average citizens, and even for many nobles. This spectacularly illustrated paperback edition tells the story of textiles during the long Tudor century, from the ascendance of Henry VII in 1485 to the death of his granddaughter Elizabeth I in 1603. It places elaborate tapestries, imported carpets and lavish embroidery within the context of religious and political upheavals of the Tudor court, as well as the expanding world of global trade. Special attention is paid to the Field of the Cloth of Gold, a magnificent two-week festival held in 1520. Even half a millennium later, such extraordinary works remain Tudor society's strongest projection of wealth, taste, and ultimately power. Published in association with Historic Royal Palaces

The Grammar of Pattern describes characteristics of textile and other surface patterns, and identifies, illustrates, and reviews a wide range of pattern types including spotted, striped, checked, tessellating and other types of all-over patterns with original drawings and images. This book includes original black-and-white line drawings and color images. The modular nature of patterns is explored, and attention is focused on the vast diversity of pattern types which can emerge from a small inventory of components. The book features material that is easily accessible with obvious mathematical content kept to a minimum and offers fresh perspectives on the nature of tessellating and other all-over patterns. This book serves as an effective practical guide for both students and professionals. Select sample exercises and student assignments are included, making this an ideal course text for teachers engaged across the full range of design education.

The Great Tapestry of Scotland is an outstanding celebration of thousands of years of Scottish history and achievement, from the end of the last Ice Age to Dolly the Sheep and Andy Murry's Wimbledon victory of 2013. The 1000+ stitches spent a total of 55, 000 sewing hours on the 160 panels that make up this extraordinary work of art. This book shows in full colour all the finished panels of the tapestry - one of the biggest community arts projects ever to take place in Scotland - together with descriptive and explanatory material on each panel and lists of all the stitchers involved.

With hundreds of step-by-step illustrated instructions and a user-friendly, stay-flat format, Patternmaking with Stretch Knit Fabrics provides emerging fashion designers with comprehensive information on how to draft patterns for popular cut-and-sew stretch knit fabrics such as jersey and knits with spandex. After covering the basics of knits and techniques for gauging stretch capacity, Julie Cole introduces a unique, simplified approach to drafting slopers using hip and top foundations. She then provides information on converting, drafting, grading, and reducing patterns for proper fit in four categories of stretch. The book proceeds to drafting slopers and patterns for tops, dresses, jackets, sweaters, cardigans, skirts, pants, lingerie, swimwear, and activewear. Patternmaking with Stretch Knit Fabrics is ideal for students with basic or intermediate design, patternmaking, and sewing skills for any course in which students design and draft patterns for knits; or courses that incorporate both knits and woven fabrics. Features - Accurate and simplified system for patternmaking with stretch knit fabrics with easier to follow approach than other books -Each chapter includes - Key terms - Highly-illustrated step-by-step instructions - Three types of boxes: "Important", "Pattern Tip", and "Stitching Tip" - End of chapter features "Knit It Together" checklist, "Stop! What Do I Do If..." troubleshooting tips, and "Self Critique" review - More than 900 technical drawings with color accents and 100 photographs of sewn samples on the dress form Patternmaking with Stretch Knit Fabric STUDIO - Study smarter with self-quizzes featuring scored results and personalized study tips - Review concepts with flashcards of terms and definitions - Access downloadable files for half-size top and hip foundations, and slopers found in the book Teaching Resources - Instructor's Guide and Test Bank includes sample syllabi, suggested projects, test questions, and evaluation guides

Textiles are central to our lives and are at the heart of the world's largest industries. In recent years there has been a dynamic shift in attitudes toward textiles, fuelled in part by explosive developments in technology. While textiles have always retained roots in craft and industry, the discipline now embraces a much wider range of practices. Innovations in the industry demand a fresh approach to the subject, which this comprehensive introduction ably supplies. Taking as their starting point the very meaning of textiles, Gale and Kaur go on to show the astonishing range of opportunities for careers in the field, from the creative (artists, craftspeople and designers) to the social and industrial, to the commercial and associated practices (buyers, journalists, researchers and scientists). The Textile Book takes us behind the scenes with professionals to reveal what various jobs involve, what influences decision makers, and how their decisions affect what we buy next season. What happens to clothes before they reach the shops? What determines the 'must have' item? How can recycled bottles be transformed into silk-like yarns? These and many other questions are explored to show the diversity that makes up the contemporary global textile scene. Woven, printed, embroidered, knitted -- textiles are pivotal to the everyday experience of people in all parts of the world. This wide-ranging and informative book conveys the excitement and new challenges textiles represent and is essential reading for anyone working with, studying or simply interested in textiles.

For introductory courses in Textiles, courses in Fashion Design/Production, Fashion Merchandising, Visual Merchandising, Interior Design, and Costume Studies. Fabric Reference is a guide for anyone who needs accessible information on today's fabrics-how they behave and why. Designed as a companion book to the Fabric Glossary, this book presents a complete and up-to-date source of the highly technical basics of textile science, from fibers to finished fabrics. Specially prepared graphics, illustrations, comparison tables, and flow charts make the process of creating modern fabrics clear to both students and instructors. This edition features more on nanotechnology, industrial textiles and other smart textiles and covers practical applications such as care, assessment and ecology. Buy both together and save! Fabric Glossary & Fabric Reference Package!

A dazzling celebration of the clothes that made America's favorite doll and the incredible woman behind them, timed to the movie release of Barbie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling and directed by Greta Gerwig. If you've ever had a Barbie doll, or you know someone who did, chances are that Barbie was dressed in one of the thousands of designs created by Carol Spencer during her unparalleled reign as a Barbie fashion designer spanning more than thirty-five years. Illustrated with more than 100 full-color photographs, including many never-before-seen images of rare and one-of-a-kind pieces from Spencer's private archive, Dressing Barbie is a treasure trove of some of the best and most iconic Barbie looks from the early 1960s until the late 1990s. Along with behind-the-scenes stories of how these designs came to be, Spencer reminisces about her thrilling time at Mattel working with legendary figures such as Ruth Handler, Barbie's creator, and Charlotte Johnson, the original Barbie designer, for a full, inside look into life with the beloved doll. Over the course of her career, Spencer won many accolades. She was the first designer to have her signature on the doll, the first to go on a signing tour, the first to design a limited-edition Barbie for collectors, and the designer of the biggest-selling Barbie of all time. Now, she is the first member of the inner circle to reveal the fashion world of the quintessential California girl as never before.

This book is aimed at anyone with an interest in surface design and pattern, whether they are students, hobbyists or professionals. Over 350 images from the last 100 years are presented with informative captions, ordered aesthetically to create a pleasing visual impression whereby contemporary images are displayed next to historical images. The images are drawn from a wide variety of styles, art movements and countries of origin to give an overview of pattern design from the beginning of the last century to the present day. Images include fabric designs and wallpaper patterns primarily, plus some ceramic and other decorative patterns where appropriate. Patterns are chosen from a number of sources, including the archives of colleges, museums and private collections. International fashion houses and notable British designers such as Celia Birtwell and Zandra Rhodes have contributed images. An introduction discusses the predominant key themes that are relevant to the subject of pattern design.

Repeating patterns can soothe or energize us, bringing joy and harmony to everyday life. Repeat Printed Pattern for Interiors explores the power repeat patterns hold over us and what goes into creating original, effective printed designs. Beginning with the history of patterns in interior design, Kate Farley uncovers lessons from the work of Owen Jones, William Morris, Collier Campbell and Josef Frank. There are also interviews with some of the best contemporary pattern designers working today: Angie Lewin, Deborah Bowness, Eley Kishimoto, Emma J. Shipley, Galbraith & Paul, Neisha Crosland, Orla Kiely OBE, Sarah Campbell and Timorous Beasties. Each interview covers the designer's practice and ethos and includes a deconstruction of one design, with discussion of initial sketches, details of design development, manufacturing insights and images of final products. Covering hand-drawn techniques through to digital manipulation, you'll also be guided through the implications of visual language, colour statements, manufacturing considerations and commercial interior contexts to prepare you to jump in and start creating your own unique patterns.

The word 'batik' is possibly of Malay origin from the word 'tik' meaning 'to drip' or 'to drop.' The term is applied to a resist dye technique invented independently in locations as diverse as Ancient Egypt, Japan and Turkestan. Batik is a remarkably flexible textile technique and is suited to small-scale methods of production, but demand from the fashion and tourism industries is increasing. This volume brings together the experiences and concerns of the international community of batik producers. It gives voice to their suggestions for ensuring that the producers of this traditional craft are integrated into its increasingly global production rather than excluded from it. Building on the work of batik designers and producers the book discusses the emergence of a global craft consciousness. Batik producers report on innovative measures taken both individually and collectively to hold their market position while commercial producers frequently annex and mass-produce traditional batik design. The book concludes with a discussion of marketing and production innovations and tourism which enable the producers of batik to maintain the integrity of their designs whilst harnessing the benefits of new commercial forms.

Sustainable Fashion: Take Action, Third Edition presents a fresh exploration of practices that are underway in design and production within the fashion industry and the possibilities for future directions that can be taken now. This book focuses on innovative action needed to achieve the goal of creating healthier environments, reducing climate change, and improving the well-being of all people as they choose and wear clothing. This third edition continues to delve into the role that fashion plays in a sustainable future, through the interconnected model of "Connecting with People, Processes, and Environment", which marks the focus of the book's three sections. Covering a wide range of sustainability practices, the chapters are written by both academic and industry professionals, providing a balanced view of the topics with breadth and depth and suggesting routes for further examination. New to this Edition: -Thoroughly revised to cover advancements since the last edition, topics of equity, diversity, and inclusion are paramount within in each chapter, and social justice as a concept is highlighted throughout -Changes in cultural, social, and health contexts as they impact fashion action are spotlighted in every chapter -"Take Action" features are integrated within chapters STUDIO Features Includes: -Study smarter with self-quizzes featuring scored results and personalized study tips -Review concepts with flashcards of essential vocabulary Instructor Resources -Instructor's Guide provides suggestions for planning the course and using the text in the classroom, supplemental assignments, and lecture notes

*** SHORTLISTED for the 2021 COSTA BOOK AWARDS: BIOGRAPHY, PEN ACKERLEY PRIZE and the JHALAK PRIZE *** 'Moving, engrossing, elegantly written' Lucy Atkins, Sunday Times All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. When Arifa Akbar discovered that her sister had fallen seriously ill, she assumed there would be a brief spell in hospital and then she'd be home. It was not until the day before she died that the family discovered she was suffering from tuberculosis. On a mission to unearth family secrets and finally understand her sister, Arifa takes us to Rome to haunt the places Keats and her sister had explored, to her grandparent's house in Pakistan, to her sister's hospital bedside in Hampstead and back to the London of the seventies when her family arrived, poor, homeless and hungry. Consumed is an eloquent and moving exploration of sisterhood, grief and the redemptive power of art.

William Morris Textiles was the first comprehensive survey of the many hundreds of original, colourful textiles produced by William Morris and the two commercial companies he founded and managed. To this day it remains the authority in the field, and this revised edition has been completely rewritten and expanded with beautiful new photography. Linda Parry provides new insight into the embroideries, printed and woven textiles, carpets and tapestries produced by Morris & Co., giving in-depth information about their design and manufacture. The varied, often highly specialized processes involved are discussed in detail, as are Morris's working methods.

From the authors of Needle Felting for Beginners, awarded BEST CRAFT BOOK in The Craft Business Awards 2021. Needle-felting is an easy and fun technique, requiring little in the way of expensive materials or equipment. Its accessibility means it's becoming more and more popular, and award-winning authors Judy Balchin and Roz Dace show how to make 20 wonderful little teddy bears using this tactile technique. Each bear measures around 10-12cm (4-5in) tall and can be made in a matter of hours from a bundle of wool fibres, a felting needle and some carefully chosen embellishments. Each bear has its own special character, and they make ideal gifts and keepsakes for friends and loved ones. There's a pretty ballet bear, a cool Christmas bear, as well as a vintage bear, rainbow bear and cute baby bears. Each project is accompanied by clear, step-by-step instructions and beautiful photographs, and there are handy hints and tips throughout the book to help make the crafting process even easier. Detailed guidance is provided at the start of the book on the materials and equipment you need; how to sculpt a basic bear; make your bears' paws, feet and faces; and how to really bring your bear to life by carefully positioning the nose, eyes and ears. The techniques are easy to learn and soon you will be designing and making bears of your own to keep or give. Previously published as How to Make Little Needle-Felted Teddy Bears (ISBN: 9781782210696).

Finally, there's a headwear solution for fashionable felines - and a practical use for accumulated shed hair. Cats in Hats contains step-by-step instructions for constructing stylish hats out of excess fur, so your cat will soon be the belle of the furball as they transform into a magical unicorn, ferocious lion or even a birthday cake! Welcome to Cats In Hats and admire the overwhelming cuteness of popular Instagrammers Rojiman and Umatan's cats in their tiny cat-hair hats. Is your cat a diva? Maybe it's time to make her a crown! Or perhaps he's a bit of a prankster - put on a joker hat! There's one for every occasion, from birthdays to graduation. Don't miss the Animal hats, from Elephant to Koala. Celebrate every annual festival with a Halloween Witch hat, Easter Bunny hat, and more. And amaze your cat with a character hat. From Princess Leia to Sherlock Holmes, whatever your cat's personality, we have a hat for them. With 300 hand-drawn step-by-step instructions for constructing 25 adorable hats, and colour photos of the authors' own cats in their handmade headgear, Cats in Hats is a fun gift for any cat-lover or crafter. And with great tips from Rojiman and Umatan, you'll be designing your own custom cat-hair creations in no time.

This unchanged hardback edition of our richly illustrated publication walks the reader through the different aspects of printed textile design as a process and a profession. The intention of this book is to present an overall panorama of the world of printed textile design. The authors--both design school teachers responsible for textile design training at the prestigious fashion, textile and luxury goods design school, Francoise Conte (Paris, France)--describe the areas of activity and involvement of the textile designer to help the reader understand the ins and outs of the profession, especially within the fashion and the home sector. They pay special attention to current tendencies and offer an excellent insight on how to interpret trends, which is essential for making a living in this profession. The book also includes a presentation of the stages of project design, creation and execution.The featured projects provide the reader with outstanding explanatory case studies and exercises in every chapter. This textbook is a key aid for design teachers, students and young professionals. It also includes a highly useful list of schools, professional publications and organizations.