Back in the late 1980’s I was introduced to the art of dyeing wool using natural dyes. I remember collecting nettles, gorse flowers, bracken and boiling them to extract the dye, then using the resulting colours to dye the wool. What lovely subtle shades were produced, unlike today’s chemical dyes which can appear harsh and [...]
The Spanish shawl or Manton de Manila, as the Spanish call the shawl which has become a quintessential accessory of adornment to the Spanish woman, most specially to the women of Andalusia and Madrid, has a long and interesting history, for the origin of this shawl is not in Spain but in the Far East, [...]
Dear Members
Apart from working for the exhibition, another project has been exercising the minds of several of us, namely the Culture-Clash project initiated by David Littler, Director of the London Printworks, Brixton. After I gave a brief resumé at our AGM in March, about 9 members signed up to an initial meeting on 2nd [...]
In the early post-war period, science enjoyed great popular appeal. X-ray crystallography - the study of the structure of molecules - was one of the most exciting fields at the time. In X-ray crystallography a narrow beam of X-ray is passed through a crystal formed of the target substance in regular arrays. The shadows cast [...]
A visit to the ‘INDIGO: A Blue to Dye For’ exhibition at the Brighton and Hove Museums made me realize what a fascinating and complex subject is covered by the word indigo. The exhibition explored the area in great depth explaining the many facets of this amazing substance.
Some interesting facts:
*Indigo dye can be extracted from [...]
I have been an admirer of Christian Lacroix and his clothes for many years, so, the chance of going to see an exhibition in Paris curated by him at Les Arts Decoratifs by Eurostar in a grey, rainy week wasn’t a difficult decision.
Lacroix left the south of France where he was born in 1951 and [...]
*Book your gallery at least a year in advance – my dates were useful, in that Christmas was coming, and it began in half-term week for schools.
*It is easy to think you have plenty of time – you haven’t – so cut back on as many commitments as possible – get the full co-operation of [...]
Liz Ashurst
Jane Walmsley is the designer who has created our new logo and publicity leaflet.
Liz: Do you remember meeting at Botanical Illustration in Redhill about ten years ago? I thought you were by far the best in the class and admired your exceptionally sensitive drawings. You were very modest in all respects and it was [...]
Do you remember your first piece of embroidery, and have you still got it? I think most of us know where we have ‘got to’, so to speak, in our embroidery journey. We can trace our current projects, both the design source and the techniques, but where did it all start?
I always think it’s fascinating [...]
I recently introduced one or two of our members to my favourite street in London – Church Street, which runs between Edgware Road and Lisson Grove, nearest tube stations Marylebone or Edgware Rd. (see A–Z) Of most interest to textile enthusiasts is a fabric shop called Joel’s towards the Edgware Rd end of the street. When most [...]