News Archive

The Textile Directory Bookstore January sale
With all the excitement of Christmas now over you can start preparing to spend your money from Santa in the January sales. To help you make sure your money goes further The Textile Directory Bookstore is having its biggest ever sale.Click here for more information.

Voting Opens in The 2009 craft&design Selected Awards
Last month we brought you news of the 2009 craft&design Selected Awards, which were organised by Craftsman craft&design magazine in recognition of the superb work of talented designer makers in Britain and Ireland.Click here for more information.

Work experience opportunity at Melissa Odabash
The Textile Directory has just been told of a great work experience opportunity at Melissa Odabash in London. Melissa Odabash is an established luxury holiday fashion brand focusing mainly on Swimwear and Beachwear. The company is internationally known with a major celebrity following including clients from Cheryl Cole to Kate Moss and Elle Macpherson.Click here for more information.

The Textile Directory's guide to learning a new craft
It is that time of year again where we all have a newfound enthusiasm to try something new. With this in mind The Textile Directory has a guide to where to start when learning a new skill.Click here for more information.

Conference Fashion Show to introduce innovative interactive format
By merging fashion and art in a thrilling architectural setting, Textile Fusion, the fashion show at the Surface Design Association's 2009 conference, will depart from the conventional runway design. Click here for more information.

The 2009 craft&design Selected Awards
In recognition of the superb work of talented designer makers in Britain and Ireland, Craftsman craft&design magazine are proud to announce their exciting new awards for 2009.Click here for more information.

Crafting for Christmas: Making your own Christmas table settings
Well, Christmas is almost upon us and we are now at the end of our Crafting for Christmas series. We hope you have all enjoyed making the patterns we have been providing over the past few weeks as we guide you through the festive season. Our final article will focus on setting your Christmas table and includes patterns for a table runner, centre piece and some specially-made Christmas crackers.Click here for more information.

Job Opportunity at The Surface Design Association
The Surface Design Association, a non-profit educational fibre arts organisation, is seeking an Executive Director, following the departure of current director Joy Stocksdale.Click here for more information.

Crafting for Christmas: Making your own Christmas decorations
Well, it’s official – we are now in December so Christmas is on its way! We all got up this morning eager to open our advent calendars and start the countdown, then panicked as we realise how little time we have for Christmas shopping!Click here for more information.

Science Minister contributes to the world's largest diffraction pattern at Diamond Light Source
During a visit to Diamond Light Source on in November, Lord Drayson, the new Science Minister, launched the World’s largest diffraction pattern project by contributing a silver stitch to what will become the world’s largest diffraction pattern.Click here for more information.

Astwood Bank First School Artist in Residence Opportunity
Astwood Bank First School is looking for an artist to take up residency in the school to help pupils develop their creative skills.Click here for more information.

Appeal for Outdoor Activities
Richard McComb at the Birmingham Post is currently looking for craft and hobby persuits to feature in his forthcoming Click here for more information.

10 Great Christmas Gifts For Under A Fiver
With Christmas coming The Textile Directory has put together our wish list for santa, with 10 fabulous books available on our bookstore. And the great thing is every one of these books cost less than £5 – so they won’t break the bank either!Click here for more information.

Innovative new machine brings sewing into the 21st century
Shad Sew have recently launched an innovative wireless device that is guaranteed to make the lives of every sewer much easier.Click here for more information.

Charlotte Liddle - An artists journey to success
In 2005 Charlotte Liddle graduated from her Textile Crafts course at the University of Huddersfield. Just three years later she is an established freelance designer selling embroidered and highly embellished fabric and paper designs for children's clothing and bedding. Click here for more information.

Crafting for Christmas: Making your own Christmas gifts
With Christmas coming and most people feeling the need to tighten their purse strings, The Textile Directory has a guide to making your own presents to give your friends and family something unique this year. Whether you want a gift for your husband, brother, sister, parents, children, nephews, nieces or best friend, The Textile Directory has it all here for you. Click here for more information.

The Textile Directory to stage Christmas Gift Exhibition
The Textile Directory will be holding our first selling exhibition this Christmas. It will feature a range of fantastic gift ideas, including bags, purses, scarves, handbag mirrors, jewellery, pictures, cushions and much more.Click here for more information.

The world's first Jelly Roll Quilt Challenge
This is a unique and exciting competition that challenges quilters all over the world to unroll their delicious Jelly Rolls and come up with the most creative quilt design they can, using just one roll.Click here for more information.

Julia Caprara
It is with great sadness that The Textile Directory has learnt of the death of Opus School of Textiles principal Julia Caprara on 24 October. Julia was an encouraging teacher and a popular artist who has inspired great work in many of her students.Click here for more information.

Spellbinding Textiles Competition Closes
The Textile Directory’s Spellbinding Textiles Competition has now closed and the entries will be judged on 25 November. Click here for more information.

Beat the Credit Crunch: Make Your Own Clothes and Accessories
With fashion figures such as Gok Wan encouraging everyone to customise their clothes and make the most of their fashion buys, coupled with the credit crunch limiting the amount of money most people have to spend, the nation has become much more aware of fashion and how to achieve an individual look without having to break the bank.Click here for more information.

New textiles and dress gallery being created at The Bowes Museum
A state of the art new Textiles and Dress Gallery is to be created at The Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle. Using the latest display ideas the new gallery is truly innovative in design – the aim being to present both textiles and costume in an exciting way that can be enjoyed by the general visitor and specialists alike. Click here for more information.

The Field of Fibre - a mystery unravelled
Have you ever given any thought to the field of fibre? Pieces appear in museum collections, we look at them and some may even provoke a reaction. However, do we really ever think about why certain pieces are selected for us to see?Click here for more information.

A guide to textile courses available in the UK
As textile arts grow in popularity across the UK, there are increasing numbers of courses available for enthusiasts to choose from, including embroidery, tapestry and other forms of stitching, fashion, quilting, knitting, garment making and tailoring, through to mixed media textile art.Click here for more information.

Great news for interior designers
The Textile Directory has just heard some great news for interior designers and home-sewers as Colly Brook Fine Furnishings has announced they have become a distributor for M’Fay window treatment patterns.Click here for more information.

New scholarship for weavers announced
The Incorporation of Weavers Trades House Glasgow have this week announced a new scholarship specifically for weavers. Click here for more information.

Fight the Credit Crunch with Creativity
It’s official – craft is cool. The current resurgence in the popularity of craft has seen people falling over themselves to knit, crochet, felt and sew.Click here for more information.

Even the Queen can't escape the credit crunch
The Hello Magazine website is reporting that even the Queen has been affected by the money worries that the rest of us are suffering from...Click here for more information.

Narrative textiles and wallpaper with Katherine Howlett
Katherine Howlett is a textile artist who specialises in producing narrative designs for interiors. We spoke to her to hear more about her fascinating work...Click here for more information.

Texere Yarns plays part in new Hollywood blockbuster
A former Victorian chapel in the heart of Bradford’s old merchants’ quarter has developed close links with the glitter of the movies and the West End stage.Click here for more information.

Let textile artist Elinor Kapp tell you a story...
Textile artist introduces a new textile talk to groups and guilds...Click here for more information.

Promote your work for free with The Textile Directory
Create your own blog on The Textile Directory siteClick here for more information.

Autumn Reading Ideas
With Autumn now upon us there is nothing better than sitting in front of the fire drinking hot chocolate and working on our favourite craft projects. Click here for more information.

Spellbinding Textiles Competition - 1 month left
The Textile Directory's Spellbinding Textiles is closing on 31 October 2008Click here for more information.

Jean Muir: A Fashion Icon - Exhibition
Jean Muir was known for her unique approach to couture fashion, marrying together the high standards of workmanship of couture fashion with a more accessible, refined, ready-to-wear style.Click here for more information.

Credit Crunching Fashion
Autumn/Winter 2008/09 is set to be dominated by plaid, tartan and lace fabrics, a return to grown-up dressing, with ultra modern materials mixed with something softer and colours of faded gold, vibrant russets, chic neutrals, deep blues and purples.Click here for more information.

The Eastern Region Textile Forum - an update
Some of you may remember an article in our January newsletter, which featured a new textile forum working in the east of England.Click here for more information.

Craftspace and VSM shortlisted for Arts & Business National Award
Some of our readers may remember an article in our newsletter from March this year about the partnership between Craftspace and VSM and their inspirational workshops held at The Project Group in Oswestry.Click here for more information.

Exciting news from The Textile Directory
The Textile Directory Bookstore has had an exciting revamp! Click here for more information.

The Festival of Quilts - a review
The Festival of Quilts is one of the most eagerly anticipated events on all quilt makers calendars, and I was lucky enough to have a trip over to Birmingham NEC yesterday to have a look around.Click here for more information.

Sumptuosity
Sumptuosity produce small gift items including brooches, bookmarks, notebooks, handbag mirrors and silk lavender bags from their studios in York.Click here for more information.