Christmas Gift Ideas

E17 Design Markets

Rigmaroles and Ragamuffins

Chinese Braid Embroidery

New Textile Directory Bookstore

Congratulations!

Are you listed?

I'm looking for...

Hello and welcome to the November issue of The Textile Directory Newsletter. This month we are bringing you a range of Christmas gift ideas brought to you by advertisers in The Textile Directory. Many of their items are handmade to order, which is why we’re starting Christmas a little early this year! We are also very excited to announce our brand new bookstore selling a whole range of textile art and craft books, click here to take a look. We will be adding to it all the time so make sure you check back to see what’s new, and if you know of a book that should be there but isn’t then let us know.

Best wishes,

Sara

Christmas Gift Ideas from The Textile Directory

With Christmas now less than two months away, we thought we would bring you a range of fabulous gift ideas, all sourced from within our directory listings and advertisers.

Tea cosies and coffee pot covers made to order from £22.50

www.feltheadtotoe.com

ewa@feltheadtotoe.co.uk

Felt belts made to order from £65

www.utterlybespoke.com

caroline@utterlybespoke.com

The New Textile Directory Bookstore - For All Your Art and Craft Needs

Here at The Textile Directory we are very excited to announce the launch of our brand new bookstore, selling hundreds of books about all types of textile art and craft. The new store is split into five sections to help you browse through the books we have available. These are Textile Art & Craft, Beadwork & Jewellery, Knitting & Crochet, Fashion & Costume and Design Sources, Inspiration & Reference.

We are working in partnership with many leading textile publishers including Search Press, Apple Press, Rainbow Disks and Telos Arts, as well as several independent publishers, to bring you a comprehensive list of titles all available from the one store. It has never been easier to find books on your favourite subject!

We will be adding new books to the site all the time so do keep checking back to see what is new in. If you are looking for a particular title and can’t find it on the site then please drop us an email at admin@thetextiledirectory.com, as we may be able to order it for you.

Please visit us at www.thetextiledirectorybookstore.com

Japanese World Embroidery Exhibition comes to England

The Kaetsu Educational & Cultural Centre in Cambridge is the venue for the Japanese Embroidery World Exhibition this month; a prestigious event that only takes places once every four years. The event is organised by the Japanese Embroidery Centre in Atlanta Georgia, US and Kurenai-Kai, the Japanese Embroidery Centre in Japan with the help of many members in the UK. Each event is staged in a different New World city, and has previously been held in New York, US; Auckland, New Zealand and Tokyo, Japan.

The exhibition will include kimonos, obis, screens and fukasa (gift covers) from Japan, as well as many other pictures and screens from around the world. Each item is hand-stitched using pure silk and metal threads onto pure silk fabrics. In all there will be over 70 Japanese embroidery pieces from all over the world.

Members of the Kurenai-Kai have reproduced 31 Kombuin Fukasas to be exhibited at the World Embroidery Exhibition. All 31 of the original fukusa are considered important cultural property, and are kept in the temple Kombuin. Skilled professionals originally embroidered them during the Edo Period, as a gift for the wife of the 5th Showgun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi.

The exhibition will be taking place from 7-18 November at The Kaetsu Educational & Cultural Centre, Huntingdon Road, Cambridge. It is open daily from 10-4 and tickets cost £3. For more information please contact Jackie Hall at Japanese Embroidery Classes in the UK on 01453 765289 or by emailing Jackie.hall@virgin.net

E17 Designers Markets

E17 Designers is a network of more than 25 designer makers based in Walthamstow, who regularly exhibit and sell their work. They have recently announced two more sales of fashion, jewellery, textiles and home accessories in November and December.

The sales at Vestry House Museum on 10 November and Harmony Hall on 13 December offer early-bird Christmas shoppers a choice of innovative, one-off art and craft items including jewellery, glass, children’s gifts and clothing, bags, cushions, and art and photography.

One of the organisers of the events, Carolyn Abbott, will be exhibiting some of her work at the two markets. Carolyn designs hand-felted textiles using striking colours and textures to create subtle, lightweight fabrics or cosy, felted woollens. She regularly exhibits her work across the UK and has items for sale in various outlets in London, including Lesley Craze Gallery.

Some of the other artists exhibiting include Charlotte Conway with her range of Knitted Husbands – bespoke knitted portraits of your spouse, Janet Cushing who creates appliqué and crochet children’s clothing, and handbag designer Ali Reader.

The first event held at Vestry House Museum is open from 2-4.30, while the second event takes place in the evening from 7-10.30. Entry into both markets is free and homemade cakes and confectionery will be available for purchase.

If you would like more information about Carolyn Abbott or the Designers Markets please visit her website at www.carolynabbott.co.uk or email Carolyn@carolynabbott.co.uk. You can also visit the E17 Designers blog at http://e17designers.blogspot.com

Giveaway - Carolyn Abbot Scarf

This month we have a fabulous hand-felted merino wool and silk scarf to giveaway (pictured on the left), courtesy of textile artist Carolyn Abbott. For your chance to win please email your name and address to Sara at admin@thetextiledirectory.com with ‘scarf’ in the subject line. Good luck!

Book Review - Rigmaroles and Ragamuffins

Rigmaroles and Ragamuffins … Unpicking words we derive from textiles

By Elinor Kapp

Illustrations by Adam Fisher

Cover design embroidered by Louise Gardiner

Published by Word4Word, Evesham, UK 2007

ISBN: 978-1-906316-00-6

Price: £9.99

Reviewed by Chris Berry

This book is a thoroughly delightful informative treasure trove of words, common sayings and well known phrases with textile linked origins. Life, according to Elinor Kapp, is much more fun when we add decoration, colour and texture to bare narrative. When Elmer Suhr suggested the Venus di Milo was actually spinning did he embroider the truth?

How did radical nineteenth century Dundee flax workers who combed hemp give their name to someone who interrupts a speaker with embarrassing questions? Why do Scots call a plait (a braid of three strands) a pleat and why does no-one call it a trellis? How did a linen cloth from Silesia give us a word for low quality?

A stitch (stikiz: German) was a tiny sting or prick but by the thirteenth century it meant piercing with a needle and thread. Little stitches are pointille (French) and links with pointillism and counterpoint.

If in danger of attack from gun or knife be sure to be wearing silk…buy this book to find out why.

To buy this book please click here

Shokay

Shokay is a fashion and accessories company based in China, who make all their products from locally sourced yak down. The fibres they use are hand-combed from the yaks that dwell in the Himalayan regions of Western China and whose existence continues to serve as a life source for the Tibetan herders. By purchasing yak fibres directly from the Tibetan herders Shokay are enabling the to earn a sustainable living, while still preserving their traditional lifestyle.

Shokay currently works with 2600 Tibetan nomads from the Hei Ma He Village of the Qinghai Province and hand knitters of Chong Ming Island off Shanghai. This gives a direct increase in income generated from the previously unused yak down, while a portion of their profits is also returned to these communities to assist the herders with local development, in areas such as health and education.

The outer hair of yaks provides a very course fibre used in the making of tents, floor mats and sacks. But it was discovered that the underside of the yaks produces a very soft and beautiful fibre unlike any other. In the long run Shokay want to introduce yak down to the world as a luxury fibre, in the hope that this will increase its value. This would mean that herders in yak-dependant regions (Tibet, Sichuan, Qinghai, Yunnan, Inner Mongolia, Mongolia, India and Nepal) can generate more income for the same amount of fibre sold.

Shokay sell a range of products using the fibre including cushions, throws, shawls, hats, scarves, slippers, and babies' clothes and accessories, as well as patterns and the raw fibres themselves. For more information about how and where to buy Shokay products please visit www.shokay.com

Competition

Shokay is launching an online design competition that requires each participant or team to produce a three-piece outfit knitted from Shokay yak yarn. The outfit can consist of any three articles of clothing or accessories and you will need to submit a photograph of the final creation – not the real thing. Three winners and three runners up will be chosen by the public via an online vote in the categories of most creative, most elegant and most adorable.

Each member of the winning and runner up teams will receive a Shokay scarf made from 100% yak down, valued at approximately £100. As well as this, the three winning outfits will be published in a national knitting magazine. Entries must be received by 31 November and voting will begin on 1 December.

If you would like to take part please email your entry to info@shokay.com

WaterAid's 'Knit A River' Campaign

Some of our readers with particularly good memories may remember an article in one of last year’s newsletters about WaterAid’s ‘Knit A River’ campaign. ‘Knit A River’ was launched in June 2006 and involved people from all over the world knitting small blue squares that could be sewn together to form a river, in support of the billions of people worldwide who don’t have safe water to drink and wash with, or access to toilets.

The campaign proved to be a fantastic success, as WaterAid Campaign Manager, Jennean Alkadiri, says, "Campaigners get tired of signing petitions, but this knitted petition really captured the imagination of people all over the world. At first we wanted 5000 blue knitted squares to represent the 5000 children that die every day from water-related diseases - 12 months later we had 100,000 squares and had to ask campaigners to stop knitting and help us sew them together instead."

The river took the WaterAid staff days to sew together, with some of them even taking it home to work on in the evenings! Once it was completed it was then taken on a tour of the UK visiting places such as Glastonbury, The National Theatre, Jubilee Gardens and most recently the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace. The river can next be seen at the UK Stitch and Bitch Day in London on 10 November.

However the main use of the river was to promote the End Water Poverty campaign in April this year. WaterAid Campaigns Officer, Gerard Allt, says, “We marched the river through London and took it to number 10, where we left a section of it with the Prime Minister. The most important aspect of the Knit a river campaign is that it raised awareness of the struggle for the 1.1 billion people without access to water and the 2.6 billion people without access to toilets!”

When the river has finished its tour it will be cut up and turned into blankets. If anybody knows of any charities or good causes who would benefit from some of these blankets please contact Gerard Allt at gerardallt@wateraid.org or on 020 7793 4523.

Calling all Crafters in the Forest of Dean

Are you looking for somewhere affordable to sell your craft items in the run up to Christmas? Flowercraft in Cinderford is offering retail space in their lovely studio above their flower and gift shop at 15 Market Street – right in the centre of town.

Tables are available every Thursday, Friday and Saturday right up until Christmas. A table for one day will cost £10, and each subsequent day is just £5 – so you can book for all three days for just £20. Open hours are Thursday and Friday 9-5 and Sat 9-3.

For more information, or to book your place, please call Kerry or Alwyn on 01594 822210.

Book Review - Chinese Braid Embroidery

Chinese Braid Embroidery

By Jacqui Carey

Published by Carey Company

ISBN: 0 9523225 6 0

Price: £15.95

Reviewed by Julie Hedges

Jacqui Carey’s splendid new book, Chinese Braid Embroidery will appeal to many, from embroiderers and braidmakers to those interested in textile costume and history.

Jacqui has done extensive research into her subject, on her exploratory visits to Southeast China and in the study of collections in the UK.

The book covers the evolution of Chinese braids, materials and equipment, as well as easy to follow braiding methods and embroidery techniques. Excellent detailed photographs and diagrams accompany the text, which is both scholarly and very readable.

The reader is introduced to Chinese Braids with a discussion of the evolution and use of braids, ‘On a wide range of items such as robes, skirts, collars, hats, shoes, cushions and purses’, from the 19th century onwards, mostly from SE China. The silk braids are shown in use alongside embroidered silk panels and borders with some fine examples on lotus shoes.

Jacqui makes an interesting analysis and comparison of braid-making methods. The stand and bobbin method, mostly found in use in China today, is compared with loop manipulation and European methods such as lace making. The Miao minority embroidery is particularly exuberant and Jacqui shows us lively documentary evidence of the ingenuity of the makers and the range of materials, bobbins and stands in use today.

There are clear instructions of seventeen versions of braiding structures to make, using a braiding stand and bobbins with detailed diagrams and accompanying photographs of methods. Examples of the traditional use of the braids in embroidery, complement each design.

The final chapter covers how braid may be used in embroidery. Unusual methods of couching, pleating, coiling and looping are explained, with more excellent diagrams and photographs of traditional examples.

This book is a valuable and timely record of an aspect of braidmaking and embroidery that has been little explored and analysed before. It is hoped that by bringing the subject to a wider audience, an awareness of Chinese Braid Embroidery and the skills of the few remaining makers will be appreciated, at a time when the rate of change in Southeast China is so great.

To buy this book please click here

Congratulations

Congratulations to Jean Weddell from Uckfield, Degna Stone from Newcastle and Kate Chew from Cheltenham who are the lucky winners of Jenni Stuart Anderson’s book Rag Rug Making as offered in last month’s newsletter. Your prizes will be sent out to you when they arrive at the publishers in the first week of December. If you weren’t successful in the competition you can pre order a copy of the book for the special price of £9.95 (RRP £12.95) by calling 01684 578558 or emailing general@traplet.com and quoting order code RAG.

Are you listed in TTD? Important information!

For those of you who are listed in The Textile Directory - that's anyone who teaches, makes, sells or exhibits textiles or anything related to textiles, you will know that we are currently making some changes to the way information is displayed in the Directory.

Now the book is no longer being printed, we are making massive investments in the online Directory so that it continues to provide an ever-improving resource for our 7000 (and growing!) subscribers.

We have moved the Silver listings further up in each section so that they come below the Gold entries. Bronze listings will come last and are only really suitable for people who don't have websites that they wish to promote.

This will make it so much easier for those using the Directory to easily gain access to the websites of those listed. It will also provide a valuable link into your website that Google will love! Web marketers all over the world are now recommending links from external websites to yours as being the best way to increase your page ranking on Google and get better results in all search engines.

We have kept the costs extremely low and are encouraging everyone listed to upgrade with some terrific special offers until the end of this month. Starting at the equivalent of just £5 per month your upgrade will soon pay for itself.

From 30 November, anybody listed on the site who doesn’t have a link from their email address and website will have this information taken down. To upgrade now, call us on 01386 760406, or send an email to Holly at sales@w4wdp.com with your telephone number and she will call you back.

If you aren't listed yet, take a few minutes to list yourself here

Last Few Copies of The Textile Directory - Buy One Get One Free!

We have a few copies remaining of the book version of The Textile Directory and, for a short while, when you buy one copy you'll get one free!

Two copies of The Textile Directory are available for £9.99 plus £4 UK postage or £8 overseas. Please click here to take advantage of our offer - while stocks last!

I'm looking for...

I’ve had a couple of requests from Textile Directory visitors this month who are looking for specific items to help with their projects.

Chris from London emailed as she is looking to purchase some Crayola Fabric Crayons and needs some help locating them. While Treacle has posted on our forum asking where she can buy some vintage parachute silk? She is also looking for some tips on how to care for it.

If you sell these items, or knows somebody who does, please email me at admin@thetextiledirectory.com and I will pass all the information on.

Diary Dates

For more information about any of the events listed please click here.