TextileArts news and re:views

Issue 5 of Fibre & Stitch, the online mixed media magazine, is now out - into its second year and as full of great articles as ever.

Everyone will have their own favourites - I enjoyed Terri Stegmiller's 'Quilt First, Paint Second' - which always seems very brave to me! - and as I own lots of felting needles but no embellisher, I was pleased to see an article by Sonja Lee-Austin and Ann M Lee about needlefelting without an embellisher, with information about fibres, tools and techniques.

I have a little collection of cards featuring Ton Schulten's colour-filled work, so Margaret Roberts' bag project inspired by his work was a delight (even though no-one checked how to spell his name!). Liz Berg explores the technique of hand carving rubber stamps and her examples are great - lots of ideas to to take away. I was also very interested in Elis Cooke's custom casting moulds made from polymer clay.

Cas Holmes is an artist whose work I have admired for many years, and it was fascinating to read more about her methods and her motivations in 'Beneath the Surface', with lots of lovely images.

I've picked out the articles that most appealed to me, but there is as much again that I haven't mentioned: so many projects and techniques to explore.

Fibre & Stitch is available online at fibreandstitch.com. There is also a generous selection of free projects on the site, which give a taste of the magazine itself.

The book - Mark Making - covers 20 years of Tilleke's work in full colour photography, with an introductory essay by Dr Jessica Hemmings, focusing on the content of the work. The book has been quite successful and the first edition has sold out.

A second and updated edition has recently been published by Ter Burg (editor of the Dutch Textile magazine Textiel Plus). It's a 72 page softback, written in English, with most parts also translated into Dutch. The book is rather popular and a second and updated edition is priced at 17.5 euros (postage and packing is extra), the book can be ordered from Tilleke Schwarz - contact her on or visit www.tillekeschwarz.com.

A new exhibition by Sleaford Embroiderers in the Roof Gallery at the

Hub
National Centre for Crafts and Design
Navigation Wharf
Sleaford
NG34 7TW

www.thehubcentre.info

4 - 7 September 2008
10am - 5pm

Sleaford Embroiderers, established in 1986, are a group of 25 creative embroiderers who enjoy working with both modern and traditional techniques, from precise and exacting pieces such as goldwork and silk shading to innovative designs of modern progressive textiles including paper and bookmaking, feltmaking, metalwork, etc.

In addition to the waterfront inspired pieces, the exhibition will also include other pieces of new work.

The British Sari Story 2008 competition is offering a £250 top prize for a design for a British Bridal Sari. Do you have a vision of a sari showing the hopes, dreams and experience of a British Asian bride? Traditionally bridal saris have fantastic beading and embroidery from south Asia.

Detail of a Gharcholu sari, worn by brides in Gujarat, India
Credit: Flexeflix/Bridging Arts

"But we're looking for something new – British beading, embroidery and embellishment, reflecting British Asian experience in the UK . We hope you will be as imaginative as possible with your entry. We could see a tweed sari with a heather embroidered motif – or a Welsh sari with leeks and daffodils! Entrants are free to use whatever they like in their embroidery - buttons instead of sequins... The possibilities are endless..."

Finalists' work will become part of the British Sari Story touring exhibition, celebrating British Asian life today. This exhibition is currently at the Harley Gallery, Worksop. Winners will be announced when the exhibition opens at the Charnwood Museum, Loughborough, in October 2008.

Entry is free and is open to all. Closing date 31 August 2008.

More information from the Bridging Arts web site, where an application form can be downloaded; or email , tel 020 8749 9010.

Nilesh Mistry, a Mumbai-born illustrator now based in north-west London, won the top prize in the 2007 competition with his Sari for Harrow. The five metres of silk show Harrow's coat of arms and the famous public school but also the "real" Harrow - an exquisite border of its citizens including a Somali woman in a Burka, a hoodie with a mobile phone, a Gujarati housewife, a Polish builder and Afro Caribbean woman and a mullah.

Sharon Boggon of In a Minute Ago has recently set up a new textile community - Stitchin Fingers - on the social networking site Ning. You'll find it at stitchinfingers.ning.com and in just a few days it has gained over 300 members. Sharon says

I have described it as "The group is open to all who are interested in textiles both contemporary and historical. Since many textile practices cross or inform each other all areas are welcome" Actually I will reshape the description when I figure out how to describe the group as I am sure it will shape itself!

The network is free to join and use, and every member has their own page on the site to share their textile interests, plus the opportunity to join groups, participate in discussions, exchange information and make friends with likeminded people across the world.

There'll be a permanent link to Stitchin Fingers (along with Fiber Arts/Mixed Media, Susan Sorrell's lively fibre arts community) on our home page.

The Textile Society are holding their annual conference - Something Old, Something New - in Winchester, England, on 5 - 7 September 2008. See the conference programme, which is packed with interesting talks and visits, on the Textile Society's web site, together with a downloadable booking form.

Contact the Textile Society on 020 7359 7678 or via www.textilesociety.org.uk.

Call For Entries

The Textile Directory has announced their Spellbinding Textiles Competition, open to anybody with an interest in any area of textiles, including fashion, interiors, textile art and design and 3D work.

The theme of the competition is magic and entrants are asked to produce an item based on their interpretation of this theme.

The overall winner of the competition will receive £1000 to spend on Pfaff products and there will be an exhibition of the 30 best entries at The Forge Mill Needle Museum in Redditch in February 2009.

The closing date of the competition is 31 October 2008. Anybody wishing to enter the competition will need to submit 3 - 4 images of their finished piece plus a short artist's statement by this date to or you can post a CD of your images to

The Textile Directory, 8 King Charles Court, Evesham, Worcestershire WR11 4RF

A gallery of entries will also be included on The Textile Directory website.

More information at Spellbinding Textiles Competition.

From the Oxfam web site:

Staff in our Leeds office have just started a new campaign to create a giant baby blanket, with each square knitted representing a mother who did not survive pregnancy or childbirth to be able to care for her baby, because she couldn't access the medical care she needed.

We're aiming to get 250,000 squares by September, which is the number of mothers who could have been saved in that time if decent healthcare had been available.

We need knitters to make 9 inch squares for the giant blanket, which will be handed into the Government as a sort of 'patchwork against poverty petition', to demand a world where everyone has access to free basic healthcare.

More information on the Oxfam web site and the Stitch and Bitch web site.

Found via Solveigh Goett at The Textile Files

The latest issue of Fibre&Stitch (issue 3) is newly out, offering a feast of techniques, projects and information. Scanning down the table of contents, some headings immediately caught my eye - Terri Stegmiller with a series on techniques and methods for writing on fabric, and special guest articles by Linda Stokes on shibori with transfer dyes, and Helen Suzanne Alexander on achieving depth and distance in fibre landscapes.

There's also a fascinating article by guest author Virginia A. Spiegel in which she explains how she collects and records information in her studio journals, and shares the thought processes that led to a particular series of art quilts.

The talented artists who contribute to Fibre&Stitch have a seemingly inexhaustible supply of ideas for colourful and beautiful projects and this issue is no exception. I especially liked Terri Stegmiller's cheerful 'scrappy fabric coasters' and Debra Jo Hardman's 'thread-play scarf', to name but two - and there is much more here to stimulate creativity.

To see what's on offer, you can download the table of contents in PDF format from the Fibre&Stitch web site, or to get a practical taste of Fibre&Stitch, look at the generous range of projects and techniques on the free projects page.

Fibre&Stitch is a quarterly electronic publication in PDF format. You can subscribe online ($29.95 USD for a year's subscription), and a single issue is $8.95 USD.

Bags2Riches 2008 is the 3rd annual handbag competition to prevent homelessness.

The brief is to create an original handbag to be eligible to win the "The Most Original Handbag Award" with Grand Prize Package. The deadline for entries is August 20, 2008.

The judges will select 10 finalists, with selection criteria including originality, unique design elements, and quality of workmanship. The finalists will be highlighted in a fashion show at the Artsgarden in downtown Indianapolis on Wednesday, October 8 2008, between 11am and 2pm. The Grand Prize winner will be determined by the most purchased votes, and each of the ten final handbags will go home with a lucky voter.

Bags not chosen to be a finalist will be sold or auctioned, with the proceeds benefiting Trusted Partners' efforts to prevent homelessness in Indianapolis. Trusted Partners is an organisation that matches volunteer mentors with families and individuals in homeless prevention programmes to increase the number of people who remain housed.

For an entry form and more information, go to www.bags2richesindy.org.