This book aims to make sense of the Bayeux Tapestry by bringing together answers to a number of questions which this famous hanging presents to the viewer. How did the embroiderers organise the stitching of the Bayeux Tapestry? Are its limited colours used with greater sophistication than viewers have recognised? What do we know of the Tapestry's supporting cast: naked figures in the margins and clerics present at events in the main register? Can we learn anything about the original purpose of the Tapestry from detailed examination of Bayeux Cathedral's 1476 Inventory, the first known reference to the Tapestry's existence? This book combines up-to-the-minute research with an introduction that draws on the contributors' personal observations in order to interrogate the Tapestry's enduring value. Bringing together contributions from leading specialists and newer voices in the field, it will be essential reading for students and scholars of the Bayeux Tapestry, medieval art and culture. -- .

Creativity is an integral part of human history, yet most studies focus on the modern era, leaving unresolved questions about the formative role that creativity has played in the past. This book explores the fundamental nature of creativity in the European Bronze Age. Considering developments in crafts that we take for granted today, such as pottery, textiles, and metalwork, the volume compares and contrasts various aspects of their development, from the construction of the materials themselves, through the production processes, to the design and effects deployed in finished objects. It explores how creativity is closely related to changes in material culture, how it directs responses to the new and unfamiliar, and how it has resulted in changes to familiar things and practices. Written by an international team of scholars, the case studies in this volume consider wider issues and provide detailed insights into creative solutions found in specific objects.

This collection explores how the body became a touchstone for late antique religious practice and imagination. When we read the stories and testimonies of late ancient Christians, what different types of bodies stand before us? How do we understand the range of bodily experiences-solitary and social, private and public-that clothed ancient Christians? How can bodily experience help us explore matters of gender, religious identity, class, and ethnicity? The Garb of Being investigates these questions through stories from the Eastern Christian world of antiquity: monks and martyrs, families and congregations, and textual bodies. Contributors include S. Abrams Rebillard, T. Arentzen, S. P. Brock, R. S. Falcasantos , C. M. Furey, S. H. Griffith, R. Krawiec, B. McNary-Zak, J.-N. Mellon Saint-Laurent, C. T. Schroeder, A. P. Urbano, F. M. Young

Tapestries have been an enigmatic form of artwork for hundreds of years, with the intricate symbolism of their woven narratives still fascinating viewers today. Unicorns and fantastic beasts rub shoulders with well-heeled aristocrats; famous biblical and saintly stories are played out; allegorical figures, gods and goddesses recline in classical landscapes; and the arms and military achievements of wealthy patrons are depicted in sparkling glory. However, far from being an outdated craft, tapestries continue to be woven to this day, both by talented amateurs in their homes and by highly skilled artisans in studios and workshops around the world. In this beautiful illustrated introduction to the history of tapestries, Rosita Sheen reveals the fascinating story of these masterpieces, exploring their conception, manufacture, and symbolism right up to the present day.

In the crowded center of Historic Cairo lies a covered market lined with wonderful textiles sewn by hand in brilliant colors and intricate patterns. This is the Street of the Tentmakers, the home of the Egyptian applique art known as 'khayamiya.' The Tentmakers of Cairo brings together the stories of the tentmakers and their extraordinary tents-from the huge tent pavilions, or suradiq, of the streets of Egypt, to the souvenirs of the First World War and textile artworks celebrated by quilters around the world. It traces the origins and aesthetics of the khayamiya textiles that enlivened the ceremonial tents of the Fatimid, Mamluk, and Ottoman dynasties, exploring the ways in which they challenged conventions under new patrons and technologies, inspired the paper cut-outs of Henri Matisse, and continue to preserve a legacy of skilled handcraft in an age of relentless mass production. Drawing on historical literature, interviews with tentmakers, and analysis of khayamiya from around the world, the authors reveal the stories of this unique and spectacular Egyptian textile art.

Cultural Threads considers contemporary artists and designers who work at the intersection of cultures and use textiles as their vehicle. Ideas about belonging to multiple cultures, which can result in a sense of connection to everywhere and nowhere, are more pertinent to society today than ever. So too are the layers of history - often overlooked - behind the objects that make up our material world. The roots of postcolonial theory lie in literature and have, in the past, been communicated through dense academic jargon. Cultural Threads breaks with what can read as impenetrable rhetoric to show the rich visual diversity of craft and art that engages with multiple cultural influences. Many of these objects exist in an in-between world of their own, not wholly embraced by the establishments of art, nor functional objects in the conventional sense of craft. Cultural Threads is an exploration of contemporary textiles and their relationship with postcolonial culture. However, the postcolonial thinking examined here shares with craft an interest in the lived, rather than the purely theoretical, giving a very human account of the interactions in between craft and culture.

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

Complement your cosplay with incredible wigs - custom-designed and created by you! Regan Cerato of Cowbutt Crunchies shows you how to make dozens of extravagant wigs for cosplayer needs, from dyed spikes to dragon scales to fibre flowers and so much more!

Carpets from Islamic lands have been treasured for centuries on nearly every continent on earth. Prized by European monarchs and traded as far afield as Tibet and the Americas, these woven and knotted masterpieces are both distinguished works of art and revealing utilitarian objects that offer a rare glimpse of life in the Islamic world. Carpets from Islamic Lands features more than forty fine classical carpets held in the al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait, along with several important pre-Islamic carpet fragments. Friedrich Spuhler describes this spectacular collection in the context of the history of Islamic art, recounting the carpets' fascinating stories and celebrating their intricate designs and masterful craftsmanship. Including pictures of many carpets never before reproduced in print, and a few that may have been lost forever following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, this richly illustrated volume is essential reading for modern admirers of oriental carpets, and a treasure in its own right.

In the textile industry, there is a pressing need for people who can facilitate the translation of creative solutions from designers into manufacturing language and data. The design technologist has to understand the elements and principles employed by designers and how these change for various textile media. One must also have a good understanding of the processes, materials and products for which the textile designer is required to produce creative solutions. This book will be for designers wishing to improve their technological knowledge, technologists wishing to understand the design process, and anyone else who seeks to work at this design-technology interface. Key Features: * Provides a comprehensive information about textile production, apparel production and the design aspects of both textile and apparel production. * Fills the traditional gap between design and manufacture changing with advanced technologies. * Includes brief summary of spinning, weaving, chemical processing and garmenting. * Facilitates translation of creative solutions from designers into manufacturing language and data. * Covers set of workshop activities.

Indian textile designs express dazzling inventiveness and creativity, from the woven silks of royalty to the simple block-printed patterns. This authoritative sourcebook overflows with colour and patterns to inspire and inform. The introduction gives an overview of Indian textiles, including methods by which they were made and their intended uses. The book is divided into three chapters defined by pattern style: Florals, Figurative and Geometric. Each comprises an introduction to the style's history, and demonstrates the techniques of structure, surface and embellishment patterning. A wealth of cross-referencing by theme and process makes this a uniquely useful resource. Over 300 breathtaking and hugely varied designs are examined here in detail through close-up shots of the pattern and material alongside a thoughtful examination of the reverse of many fabrics, demonstrating different weaving techniques so that the reader can see precisely how the textile was made.

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.

Over the last four decades, the fashion modeling industry has become a lightning rod for debates about Western beauty ideals, the sexual objectification of women, and consumer desire. Yet, fashion models still captivate, embodying all that is cool, glam, hip, and desirable. They are a fixture in tabloids, magazines, fashion blogs, and television. Why exactly are models so appealing? And how do these women succeed in so soundly holding our attention? In This Year's Model, Elizabeth Wissinger weaves together in-depth interviews and research at model castings, photo shoots, and runway shows to offer a glimpse into the life of the model throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Once an ad hoc occupation, the "model life" now involves a great deal of physical and virtual management of the body, or what Wissinger terms "glamour labor." Wissinger argues that glamour labor-the specialized modeling work of self-styling, crafting a 'look,' and building an image-has been amplified by the rise of digital media, as new technologies make tinkering with the body's form and image easy. Models can now present self-fashioning, self-surveillance, and self-branding as essential behaviors for anyone who is truly in the know and 'in fashion.' Countless regular people make it their mission to achieve this ideal, not realizing that technology is key to creating the unattainable standard of beauty the model upholds-and as Wissinger argues, this has been the case for decades, before Photoshop even existed. Both a vividly illustrated historical survey and an incisive critique of fashion media, This Year's Model demonstrates the lasting cultural influence of this unique form of embodied labor.

Praise for the Build a Bag series: "These books are ideal for those new to bag making and will help readers grow their bag-making skills and confidence as they work through the projects. The plastic templates are a brilliant idea and a great bonus." - The Sewing Directory New to the highly acclaimed Build a Bag series, this fantastic new book by Debbie Shore brings you a selection of 15 sensational satchels! The 15 designs are created using the full-size rigid template contained within the book. It is easy-to-use, durable, reusable, wipe-clean and perfect for fussy cutting, plus it is simple to position and use - there is no need to pin it. The satchels are made using different techniques, pockets, straps and fastenings to create 15 very different results. But why stop there? The template can also be used for your own design variations. As you mix and match the techniques covered within the book, Debbie gives advice on how to adapt and create your own unique designs. Each project in the book is explained using Debbie's friendly style and easy-to-follow step-by-step photography, and there is also a comprehensive techniques section and a guide to using the template.

The history of men's needlework has long been considered a taboo subject. This is the first book ever published to document and critically interrogate a range of needlework made by men. It reveals that since medieval times men have threaded their own needles, stitched and knitted, woven lace, handmade clothes, as well as other kinds of textiles, and generally delighted in the pleasures and possibilities offered by all sorts of needlework. Only since the dawn of the modern age, in the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries, did needlework become closely aligned with new ideologies of the feminine. Since then men's needlework has been read not just as feminising but as queer. In this groundbreaking study Joseph McBrinn argues that needlework by male artists as well as anonymous tailors, sailors, soldiers, convalescents, paupers, prisoners, hobbyists and a multitude of other men and boys deserves to be looked at again. Drawing on a wealth of examples of men's needlework, as well as visual representations of the male needleworker, in museum collections, from artist's papers and archives, in forgotten magazines and specialist publications, popular novels and children's literature, and even in the history of photography, film and television, he surveys and analyses many of the instances in which "needlemen" have contested, resisted and subverted the constrictive ideals of modern masculinity. This audacious, original, carefully researched and often amusing study, demonstrates the significance of needlework by men in understanding their feelings, agency, identity and history.

Kaffe Fassett uses the colorful Venetian island of Burano to form the backdrop of another stunning collection of new quilt designs from the Kaffe Fassett Studio. In this 22nd installment of Kaffe Fassett's ever-popular series of patchwork and quilting books, the quilts have been photographed on location in Burano, a tiny island in Italy's Venetian archipelago, famous for its lace making but also for its brilliantly painted houses in a myriad jewel colors. The colorful house walls, sometimes distressed and occasionally decorated with murals, form the backdrop, along with the canals, bridges, and boats of this special Venetian island, to another wonderful selection of Kaffe's new quilt designs. The collection of 19 quilts features both new fabric designs from the Kaffe Collective and some of his Classics. Bali Brocade makes a fantastic background to Kaffe's sumptuous Shimmer Star quilt with its ripples of pattern in contrasting prints. His two versions of a very simple quilt, comes in two very different colorways. Hot Steps is a riot of color, whereas by contrast its sister quilt, Cool Steps, in dusty blues, greens, and greys has an dreamy quality. Liza Prior Lucy's rich and dark Turkish Coffee quilt, with its hint of Eastern promise, fussy cuts Kaffe's new Turkish Delight fabric to brilliant effect. Kaffe Fassett's Quilts in Burano provides all the instructional text, diagrams, and templates to make the quilts, plus a section on basic patchwork techniques for less experienced quilters.

The Bayeux Tapestry has long been recognized as one of the most problematical historical documents of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. More than a reinterpretation of the historical evidence, Suzanne Lewis's study explores the visual and textual strategies that have made the Bayeux Tapestry's narrative such a powerful experience for audiences over the centuries. The Rhetoric of Power focuses on how the Tapestry tells its story and how it shapes the responses of reader-viewers. This involves a detailed analysis of the way the visual narrative draws on diverse literary genres to establish the cultural resonance of the story it tells. The material is organized into self-contained yet cross-referencing episodes that not only portray the events of the Conquest but locate those events within the ideological codes of Norman feudalism. Lewis's analysis conveys how the whole 232-foot tapestry would have operated as a complex cultural 'fiction' comparable to modern cinema.

Part of a series of exciting and luxurious Flame Tree Notebooks. Combining high-quality production with magnificent fine art, the covers are printed on foil in five colours, embossed then foil stamped. And they're powerfully practical: a pocket at the back for receipts and scraps, two bookmarks and a solid magnetic side flap. These are perfect for personal use and make a dazzling gift. Ashmolean Museum: Chinese Embroidered Hanging with Peacock. The peacock was emblematic not of glory but of compassion and care, and so it would appear to be in this intricate hanging. What we might expect to be its show-stealing splendour is almost upstaged by the pure-white peonies, lilies and roses all around. The eyes of its furled-up tail, though beautiful, blend into the background as though they were another flower.

Alfred C. Haddon began his study of these native fabrics and garments with the collection in the Sarawak museum, Kuching, of which many of the patterns had been identified. His own collection, supplemented by one purchased for him from Dr Charles Hose, is now in the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. These sources, together with an examination of the cloths in the British Museum, formed the basis of this memoir, which was originally published by Cambridge University Press in 1936. This was the first time that the beautiful and intimate patterns of Iban textiles had been investigated and illustrated. Laura E. Start contributed a full technical description of the manufacture of the fabrics and provided all the drawings.

Woven Textile Design offers a comprehensive introduction to weaving for all those wishing to design and produce a wide range of fabrics from scratch.
Starting with the basics of woven textile design, the book looks at how to draw up and interpret records and notation, before explaining how different types of cloth are constructed. From the most basic of plain weaves, through twill weaves, textured weaves such as seersucker, crepe, and corded cloths to more complicated designs created with extra threads woven in, a wide range of patterns are covered. Illustrated throughout with diagrams, weaving plans, and beautiful examples from contemporary designers, the book also includes tips on using different yarns and colors to create stunning and unique designs.
Offering clear, practical advice, this book will show you how to interpret your initial concepts and develop your ideas on the loom.

Renowned natural dyer, artist, and educator Sasha Duerr envisions a new age of fresh, modern color palettes, drawing from our original source of inspiration and ingredients-the natural world around us. This innovative plant-based color-guide includes twenty-five palettes with five hundred natural color swatches, providing inspiration for sustainable fashion, textiles, fine art, floral design, food, medicine, gardening, interior design, and other creative disciplines. Bring the healing power of forest bathing into your home with a palette of spruce cones, pine needles, and balsam branches. Move past Pantone and embrace the natural balance of a pollinator palette with Hopi sunflower, red poppy, echinacea, and scabiosa. Duerr complements the palettes with short essays that provide useful information. She connects the colors with particular landscapes, the restorative qualities of medicinal plants, common garden flora, lifestyle experiences, food and floral waste, and the ecological benefits of using organic materials to create colors. You may never view color-or your plants-the same way again.