Following on from her textile hit Slow Stitch, author Claire Wellesley-Smith considers the importance of connection and ideas around wellbeing when using textiles. Claire explores textiles in the context of individuals and communities, as well as practical ideas around 'thinking-through-making', using 'resonant' materials and extending the life of pieces using traditional and non-traditional methods. Contemporary textile artists using these themes in their work feature alongside personal work from Claire and examples from community-based textile projects. The book features some of the very best textile artists around, esteemed American fiber artists and the doyenne of textiles, Alice Kettle. Resilient fabrics that can be manipulated, stressed, withstand tension and be made anew are recommended throughout the book, as well as techniques such as layering, patching, reinforcing, re-stitching and mending, plus ideas for the inclusion of everyday materials in your work. There's an exploration of ways to link your emotional health with your textile practice, and 'Community' suggests ways to make connections with others in your regular textile work. 'Landscape' has a range of suggestions and examples of immersing your work in the local landscape, a terrific way to find meaning in your work and a sense of place. Finally, there is a moving account of one textile community's creative response to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. The connection between wellbeing and the creation of textiles has never been stronger, and, as a leading exponent of this campaign, Claire is the perfect author to help you find more than just a finished textile at the end of a project.

Textile design inhabits a liminal space spanning art, design and craft. This book explores how textile design bridges the decorative and the functional, and takes us from handcrafting to industrial manufacture. In doing so, it distinguishes textiles as a distinctive design discipline, against the backdrop of today's emerging design issues. With commentaries from a range of international design scholars, the book demonstrates how design theory is now being employed in diverse scenarios to encourage innovation beyond the field of design itself. Positioning textiles within contemporary design research, Textile Design Theory in the Making reveals how the theory and practice of textile design exist in a synergistic, creative relationship. Drawing on qualitative research methods, including auto-ethnography and feminist critique, the book provides a theoretical underpinning for textile designers working in interdisciplinary scenarios, uniting theory and texts from the fields of anthropology, philosophy, literature and material design.

Fashion designer Bridgett Artise believes in second chances—a philosophy that extends all the way to her clothing line, B. Artise Originals. Fashion gave her a second chance at happiness and success, and, in turn, she gives vintage garments that have lost their luster another chance at being fashionable. Mixing contemporary clothing with the best elements of a vintage piece—like the collar of a funky fifties housedress or the pockets of a seventies-style jacket—and piecing them back together in a whole new way, she creates one-of-a-kind garments that are both trend setting and timeless. An old-fashioned ruffled shirt with terrific buttons, plus an inexpensive tank top, can become a unique top. A poodle skirt and that so-last-year’s knee-length cardigan sweater can be turned into anything from a mini-poncho to a structured tube top. With fashions for every season, Born-Again Vintage contains patterns for: •Pants that pair perfectly with winter boots and a sweater dress that’s sexy and simple •A cropped jacket + sweater corset that are perfect for a flirty spring fling •Dresses + bags to keep summer easy and breezy •Pretty-in-a-blink dresses + accessories for a big night out Born-Again Vintage updates the trends of fashion eras gone by and brings the unparalleled quality of vintage into a new age. Complete with a vintage shopping guide, handy style tips, and ideas for reinventing disused cast-offs, Born-Again Vintage is a must-have for vintage shoppers and sewers alike.

Conscious Crafts: Quilting is a contemporary craft book containing 20 simple projects for gorgeous quilted pieces.

Use this compassionate guide to access your deepest emotions, express them through art, and transform them into tools for healing and understanding. Former psychotherapist turned artist Andy Stanton offers guided meditations, imagery techniques, and collage prompts to open a safe space for not only grief and brokenheartedness, but celebration and thankfulness. First, follow relaxation and imagery techniques to access your feelings; next, use the simple guidelines for making collage art. Inspiring us by example, dozens of contemporary artists offer photographs of their most personally transformative artworks and share heartfelt stories about how those pieces helped them alleviate their difficult emotions. Focusing on the emotional-artistic process rather than specific skill, Stanton offers lessons for artists of all experience levels and mediums. An exclusive online bonus feature offers dozens more artworks and stories.

The New York Times bestseller from the author of Dusk, Night, Dawn, Hallelujah Anyway, Bird by Bird, and Almost Everything “Lamott’s …most insightful book yet, Stitches offers plenty of her characteristic witty wisdom…this slim, readable volume [is] a lens on life, widening and narrowing, encouraging each reader to reflect on what it is, after all, that really matters.”—People What do we do when life lurches out of balance? How can we reconnect to one other and to what’s sustaining, when evil and catastrophe seem inescapable? These questions lie at the heart of Stitches, Lamott’s profound follow-up to her New York Times–bestselling Help, Thanks, Wow. In this book Lamott explores how we find meaning and peace in these loud and frantic times; where we start again after personal and public devastation; how we recapture wholeness after loss; and how we locate our true identities in this frazzled age. We begin, Lamott says, by collecting the ripped shreds of our emotional and spiritual fabric and sewing them back together, one stitch at a time. It’s in these stitches that the quilt of life begins, and embedded in them are strength, warmth, humor, and humanity.

The hugely accomplished textile artist Jean Draper gives an invaluable guide to designing and working with pattern in textile art. Jean goes back to basics with simple dots and lines, demonstrating how even basic squares, circles and triangles can have a stunning impact in stitch and textiles. She provides practical and simple instructions for developing and experimenting with pattern, using grids, symmetry, rotation and repeats. Jean draws inspiration from patterns around the world, from West African Kente Cloth to the Gee’s Bend quilts of Alabama. There are instructions on creating bands and borders, strip patchwork and strip piecing, plus an extended study of Banjara stitched textiles. Natural patterns from plants and flowers also offer exciting opportunities for stitch, and Jean explores important design emblems such a the Tree of Life alongside other stitched flower forms. Finally, the ornamentation of the body provides many unique and striking ways to interpret the human form in stitch. Pattern is everywhere and can be used to stunning effect, taking your textile art to the next level. This fascinating and exciting guide brings together inspiration, design methods and stitching techniques to help you develop truly great textile art.