From colorful threads found on the floor of an ancient Georgian cave to the Indian calicoes that fueled the Industrial Revolution, The Golden Thread illuminates the myriad and fascinating histories behind the cloths that came to define human civilization-the fabric, for example, that allowed mankind to shatter athletic records, and the textile technology that granted us the power to survive in space. Exploring the enduring association of textiles with "women's work," Kassia St. Clair "spins a rich social history . . . that also reflects the darker side of technology" (Rachel Newcomb, Washington Post).

These engaging works of art represent a range of styles across the abstract art spectrum. 300 gorgeous art quilts, bursting with color and excitement, capture the work of 124 major quilt artists from 18 countries. In-depth interviews with 29 of the artists help us understand their inspirations, their techniques, and their challenges. Learn about how Denyse Schmidt makes her color choices. Find out how Fumiko Nakayama first discovered the mola techniques for which she is famous. Discover why Sue Benner is drawn to plaids and why Deidre Adams likes old books. Participating artists come from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, the UK, and across the US.

With his unerring eye, Kaffe has succeeded in finding the perfect location for his exquisite new collection of quilts, featuring both his scintillating new fabric designs and his classics, all in his unique color palette. This time he has chosen the medieval English village of Lavenham in Suffolk, where the 19 quilts in this book are set off against the ancient half-timbered Tudor houses. They are displayed in all their glory in a sumptuous eye-catching quilt gallery. Included in this set of new designs are many very special ones by Kaffe, and several by his long-time friend and co-designer, Liza Prior Lucy. Kaffe's Starry Night, featured on the cover, fussy cuts some of his brilliant floral fabrics in deep rich colors to great effect, setting them off by surrounding stars in his Shot Cottons. Shards translates the traditional Broken Dishes design into deliciously soft and subtle blends of pastel fabrics, shown off to perfection against the pale plaster and weathered timbers of the Lavenham houses. In a quite different vein, the boldly contrasting background stripes in black and white fabric in Blooming Columns make a dramatic contrast to the huge fussy-cut flowers appliqued onto it. This book--the 23rd in the series--includes a range of quilts for all skill levels, from beginners to advanced. Shaded Squares is one such lovely quilt for first timers, with its cleverly shaded squares each made up from two large triangles, one plain and one striped in Kaffe's Shot Cotton and Wide Stripe fabrics. Flat shots, a practical know-how section and glossary, back up the fully illustrated, step-by-step instructions for each quilt.

Needlework serves functional purposes, such as providing warmth, but has also communicated individual and social identity, spiritual beliefs, and aesthetic ideals throughout time and geography. Needlework traditions are often associated with rituals and celebrations of life events. Often-overlooked by historians, practicing needlework and creating needlework objects provides insights to the history of everyday life. Needlework techniques traveled with merchants and explorers, creating a legacy of cross-cultural exchange. Some techniques are virtually universal and others are limited to a small geographical area. Settlers brought traditions which were sometimes re-invented as indigenous arts. This volume of approximately 75 entries is a comprehensive resource on techniques and cultural traditions for students, information professionals, and collectors. Entries include: -Applique -Aran -Bobbin lace -Crochet -Cross-stitch -Embellishment -Feathers and Beetle wings -Knotting -Machine needlework -Macrame -Mirrorwork -Netting -Patchwork -Quillwork -Samplers -Smocking -Tatting -Whitework Geographical areas include: -Africa -British Isles -Central Asia -East Asia -Southeast Asia -Pacific Region -Eastern Europe -Eastern Mediterranean -Indian Subcontinent -Middle East -North America -Scandinavia -South America -Western Asia -Western Europe

In Caribbean history, the European colonial plantocracy created a cultural diaspora in which African slaves were torn from their ancestral homeland. In order to maintain vital links to their traditions and culture, slaves retained certain customs and nurtured them in the Caribbean. The creation of lace-bark cloth from the lagetta tree was a practice that enabled slave women to fashion their own clothing, an exercise that was both a necessity, as clothing provisions for slaves were poor, and empowering, as it allowed women who participated in the industry to achieve some financial independence. This is the first book on the subject and, through close collaboration with experts in the field including Maroon descendants, scientists and conservationists, it offers a pioneering perspective on the material culture of Caribbean slaves, bringing into focus the dynamics of race, class and gender. Focussing on the time period from the 1660s to the 1920s, it examines how the industry developed, the types of clothes made, and the people who wore them. The study asks crucial questions about the social roles that bark cloth production played in the plantation economy and colonial society, and in particular explores the relationship between bark cloth production and identity amongst slave women.

From nomads' tents to poodle skirts, from car parts to Christmas tree ornaments, felt is one of the world's oldest and most understated textiles. Felt has developed simultaneously in multiple cultures, and often its origins are lost. However, far from having been supplanted by new fabrics, not only has felt retained its traditional uses among peoples around the world, but it has also seen a revival of popularity among today's hand feltmakers, craftspeople and fashion designers. This book follows the journey of felt through time, space, and purpose by pulling into focus a series of snapshots of different felting traditions. Beautifully illustrated, "Felt" covers the wide-ranging history and development of this most unassuming, yet ubiquitous, of fabrics from the earliest archaeological evidence in the mountains of Siberia to the groundbreaking works of contemporary fiber arts and sculptors.

This broad-reaching collection of essays constitutes a thorough introduction to the fields and methodologies concerned with studies of textiles and dress of the Middle Ages. New themes and critical viewpoints from many disciplines are brought to bear on the medieval material in the areas of archaeology, art and architecture, economics, law, history, literature, religion, and textile technology. The contributors address surviving objects and artifacts and interpret representations in texts and images. The articles extend in time from the fifth to the sixteenth centuries, and cover Europe from Scandinavia, England, and Ireland in the north, to Italy and the Mediterranean basin in the south. Emphasis is placed on the significant role of trade and cultural exchanges as they impact appearance and its constituent materials.

This powerful and insightful work offers a bold celebration of the innovative, brilliant artists reclaiming the idea of 'women's work'. In the history of western art, decorative and applied arts - including textiles and ceramics - have been separated from the 'high arts' of painting and sculpture and deemed to be more suitable for women. Artists began to reclaim and redefine these materials and methods, energizing them with expressions of identity and imagination. Women's Work tells the story of this radical change, highlighting some of the modern and contemporary artists who dared to defy this hierarchy and who, through, experimentation and invention, transformed their medium. The work of these women has helped underscore the ongoing value of these art forms within the history of art, championing 'women's work' as powerful mediums worthy of celebration. With biographical entries on each artist featured, as well as beautiful images of their artworks, Women's Work raises up the work of these visionary and groundbreaking artists, telling their stories and examining their artistic legacies.

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.

Provides tables, charts, and formulas used by machinists, engineers, designers, and toolmakers, featuring coverage of drills, tapers, screws, gears, weights, tool steels, and shop prints.

With hundreds of vivid and detailed color photographs and an easy narrative style enlivened by historical vignettes and images, the authors bring overdue appreciation to a centuries-old Native American basketmaking tradition in the Northeast. Explore the full range of vintage Indian woodsplint and sweetgrass basketry in the Northeastern U.S. and Canada, from practical "work" baskets made for domestic use to whimsical "fancy" wares that appealed to Victorian tourists. Basket collectors may compare four regional styles: Southern New England and Long Island, Northern New England and Canadian Maritimes, Upper New York State, and the Great Lakes. Learn of the craft's key role in supporting many Eastern Algonquian and Iroquoian peoples through generations of turmoil and change. Discover how today's creative young artisans are building upon their legacy. The book's "Resources" section guides readers to relevant websites and publications as well as northeastern Indian basketry collections in more than 30 public museums.

While the topic of sustainability in textile manufacture has been the subject of considerable research, much of this is limited to a focus on materials and practices and their ecological impact. Padovani and Whittaker offer a unique exploration of the textile industry in Europe from the perspective of social sustainability, shifting the focus from the materiality of textile production to the industry's relationships with the communities from which the products originate. Featuring six in-depth case studies from design entrepreneurs, artisans and textile businesses around Europe, from Harris Tweed in Scotland to luxury woollen mills in Italy, Sustainability and the Social Fabric explores how new centres of textile manufacturing have emerged from the economic decline in 2008, responding creatively and producing socially inclusive approaches to textile production. Case studies each represent a different approach to social sustainability and are supported by interviews with industry leaders and comparisons to the global textile industry. Demonstrating how some companies are rebuilding the local social fabric to encourage consumer participation through education, enterprise, health and wellbeing, the book suggests innovative business models that are economically successful and also, in turn, support wider societal issues. Essential reading for students of textiles, fashion, design and related subjects, this book will demonstrate how a business ecosystem that focuses on inclusive growth and social innovation can lead to sustained mutual benefit for textile industries and their local communities.

Textiles are the most ubiquitous, diverse, and consistently creative art form on the planet. This major new work comprises more than one thousand images that highlight the beauty, subtlety, simplicity, or complexity of textiles created around the world. Based on knowledge accrued over a lifetime of immersion in the textile arts, Mary Schoeser s definitive text offers sweeping insight into the role that textiles have played throughout human civilization. The juxtaposition of historical and contemporary examples highlights the skill and imagination of textile designers through the centuries as well as the remarkable range of achievements. Detailed images and informed captions illustrate the variety and allure of textiles, and the informative descriptions include histories of private collections, underscoring the importance of context for appreciating the exquisite detail of fabric and cloth. An extensive resource section provides valuable information about museum and textile associations across the globe."

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.

One of the most distinctive features of Islamic design is the evolution of an increasingly abstract and repetitive repertoire of motifs, which are shared among all media - metalwork, woodwork, ceramics, tilework and textiles. In textiles the main themes are based on angular and geometric shapes - vertical and horizontal striped bands; hexagons and octagons, which can be linked and infinitely extended; stylized and rhythmic scrolls of foliage and flowers; and Arabic calligraphy, of which the letters can be formed into continuous borders, panels and medallions. These motifs can be used separately or combined into complex patterns, of which the repetitive and two-dimensional features are ideal for textile production, especially where varying lengths are required - for hangings, curtains, robes and shawls. Valued for their role in the subtleties of court ceremonial and fashion, these textiles were also much admired beyond the Islamic lands. The exceptional collection published here ranges widely in region, material and technique. There are textiles and garments from North Africa, Syria, Arabia, Iran, Turkey and the Indian subcontinent linked by a shared vocabulary of ornament - evidence of the international nature of Islamic design. Materials represented are silk - the most prestigious of fibres, requiring highly respected weavers - wool, cotton and linen. Decoration is based on variations of weave and colour and embellishment through embroidery, printing and applique and illustrates the work of both professional and domestic workers. The strengths of the collection are concentrated in the textile production of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which, thanks to the basically conservative nature of textile technique and design, preserve and continue the traditions established in the medieval Islamic world. They are important in an assessment of Islamic textiles both for their quality and as illustrations of survival and adaptation in a major industry. Their heritage reaches back well over a thousand years, even though their very high perishability means that for the earlier part of the tradition our knowledge is reliant very largely on written sources. These, however, attest to the superb quality and quantity of textiles at the courts of the period.

Exploding Fashion examines the impact of innovative pattern-cutting in several key examples of 20th century fashion design. With over 200 illustrations, it 'explodes' designs by 6 game-changing fashion designers from the world's leading fashion houses, and reverse engineers them in order to understand how they work. Written by a curator and professor at Central Saint Martins, London's premier college of art and design, this is the first comprehensive exploration of how a traditional design process can enter into a dialogue with new concepts, illuminating haute couture and pret-a-porter methods for a visually-driven digital age.

A FLAME TREE NOTEBOOK. Beautiful and luxurious the journals combine high-quality production with magnificent art. Perfect as a gift, and an essential personal choice for writers, notetakers, travellers, students, poets and diarists. Features a wide range of well-known and modern artists, with new artworks published throughout the year. BEAUTIFULLY DESIGNED. The highly crafted covers are printed on foil paper, embossed then foil stamped, complemented by the luxury binding and rose red end-papers. The covers are created by our artists and designers who spend many hours transforming original artwork into gorgeous 3d masterpieces that feel good in the hand, and look wonderful on a desk or table. PRACTICAL, EASY TO USE. Flame Tree Notebooks come with practical features too: a pocket at the back for scraps and receipts; two ribbon markers to help keep track of more than just a to-do list; robust ivory text paper, printed with lines; and when you need to collect other notes or scraps of paper the magnetic side flap keeps everything neat and tidy. THE ART. Patchwork or 'pieced work' is a form of needlework that dates back around 5,000 years ago and is continued to this day as a meaningful part of many cultures, creating heartfelt and beautiful textiles that connect us to our world. A series of fabric pieces are sewn together to form a larger design, usually of differing patterns, colours and textures, as seen in this delightful example from Russia. THE FINAL WORD. As William Morris said, "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."

William Morris is well known for his unmistakable tapestries, furniture, fabrics, wallpaper and even stained glass. His work has now been used for over 150 years on many more decorative as well as functional products. The William Morris Everyday Pen Set from Galison include 3 capped pens decorated with iconic Morris patterns.