Hello and welcome to the October edition of The Textile Directory newsletter. This month we have re-launched the website, which now has lots of great new features including a community area where visitors can set up their own blogs. You can read more about opportunities from The Textile Directory below.

This month has also seen Holly leave us for pastures new in London, where she has gone back to university. I’m sure you will all join us in wishing her well in her new adventure!

Best wishes Sara

Spellbinding Textiles Competition - 1 month left
	The Textile Directory’s Spellbinding Textiles competition is closing on 31 October 2008 - so get your entries in now for your chance to win £1000 tospend on Pfaff products and have your work exhibited. The competition is open to anybody who has an interest in any area of textiles. So if your passion is for fashion, interiors, textile art and design or 3D work then this competition is for you. The theme of the competition is magic and entrants are invited to produce an item based on their interpretation of this theme. The overall winner of the competition will win £1000 to spend on Pfaff products to suit your individual sewing needs. Whether you dream of a new sewing machine, overlocker or embroidery machine, why not enter our competition and you could win just that! The best 30 pieces entered into the competition will also go on display at an exhibition in The Forge Mill Needle Museum, Redditch in February 2009, which gives you a fantastic opportunity to have your work exhibited - at no cost to you! All we ask is that you send us five good quality images of your piece along with an explanation of how it meets our theme. You must also be able to get your item to us if you are chosen for the exhibition, but you do not have to live in the UK. You can email entries to sara@thetextiledirectory.com or post them to: Spellbinding Textiles Competition The Textile Directory 8 King Charles Court Evesham Worcestershire WR11 4RF You can find out more information about the competition here. You can also see a gallery of entries we have received so far by clicking here. We look forward to adding your entry to this list!

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Join our textile community

Take a listing in The Textile Directory to get in touch with the textile community and be sure your work will be seen by the people who matter!

A basic listing in the directory is absolutely free and there are some fantastic low-cost packages available for those of you who would like to promote your business even more.

To list yourself today please click here or for more information give us a call on 01386 760406

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. The Textile Directory has put together our favourite 15 books to get you ready for the cold weather. Whether you love knitting, crochet, embroidery, patchwork or jewellery we have found something for you. Projects include scarves, hats, homewares, necklaces, toys and many more, so why not treat yourself to some new ideas? For those of you who are very keen you could even start making your own Christmas presents! To have a look through our selection please click here.

Giveaway
	This month we have two copies of Elinor Kapp's fabulous book Rigmaroles and Ragamuffins to giveaway. For your chance to win simply email your name and address to sara@thetextiledirectory.com. We would also like to congratulate the winners of last month's competitions. Kath Watson of Thurmaston was the lucky winner of the wool felt making kit as offered by Texere Yarns and Anne Turner from Buckfast, Devon is the new owner of the handbag by Juko Designs. Your prizes are on their way to you.

Stitching to Dye in Quilt Art
	Stitching to Dye in Quilt Art: Colour, Texture and Distortion By C. June Barnes Published by Batsford ISBN: 978 0 7134 90701 £18.99 Reviewed by Sandra Wyman I read numerous books on textiles, but rarely have I come across one as exciting as this; within minutes of opening it I was itching to get started on the techniques it describes. June Barnes has won numerous awards as a textile artist. In this book she describes the techniques she has developed in stitching and then dyeing fabric to produce vivid and unexpected colour-combinations and fascinating textural effects, including techniques not seen elsewhere. The first part of the book contains a series of exercises which guide the reader through the various processes involved in producingstitched fabrics, then dyeing and overdyeing them for a variety of effects. The second section deals with the effects produced by shrinkage of various fabrics and distortions achieved by combining these with items such as zippers and plastic shapes, which resist shrinking. This book is exceptionally well-written – crisp, witty, to the point and engaging – and sumptuously illustrated. Above all it is successful in opening up a wholenew area for exploration by art quilters and other textile artists. Click here to purchase

Word 4 Word Design and Publishing, Suite 8, King Charles Court, Evesham, Worcestershire, WR11 4RF
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