Selvedge

Next Saturday I will be visiting Bath for The Selvedge Fair at the Assembly Rooms. At the Fair we are launching our Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the summer 2020 event, The Selvedge World Fair. I hope you'll support the campaign, we have some lovely rewards to thank you for your donations, all will be revealed on Saturday. If you can make it to Bath, I'll be delighted to share my plans and vision with you. In the meantime,  read on to find out about the story so far... I have a life-long passion for textiles and believe their value...

The continent of Africa has had a long association with pattern and with Liberty. The famous Liberty Fabric Tana Lawn was named in the 1920s and is a reference to Lake Tana in Ethiopia, where the Egyptian cotton used to make it had been grown and discovered. The long staple fibres give Tana Lawn its famous silk-like feel, and this is the fabric that is used for the famous prints, produced first in Lancashire in the 1930s, and now in Italy, near Lake Como, at Liberty Fabrics’ own printing mill. Each year, South Africa celebrates the anniversary of the first...

Indigo is among the oldest dyes in textiles and continues to be loved for its quintessential blues. Around the globe, indigo is cultivated to bear hues that have become deeply connected to land and culture. Indigo’s legacy is at the heart of the North American Indigo Projects in Berkeley, California on 31 March 2019. Natural indigo dye is energising artists, designers and industries, and simultaneously linking to international movements towards ecological responsibility. The importance of traceability in sourcing materials and industry production processes have become a large focus as ethical practices gain momentum. This need to preserve the health of...

‘Nothing is so compelling to rethink the present, as the memory of our roots, history and traditions’, costume designer for blockbuster historical films Antonina Belinska tells us how she, along with other creatives and Ukrainian public figures grouped together for a national cause.Tell me a little about the Shchyri project. Why did you want to be involved? The ‘Schiri’ project was created by the Domosfera company and the Grace and Todorchuk agency as a charity project in 2014. The goal of the project was to raise money for the treatment of wounded Ukrainian soldiers who were injured in hostilities in...

We are surrounded by the word craft today – whether on food packaging in supermarkets or luxury brands, galleries to gift shops to hobbies at home. What is craft and why does it matter to us today: is it a product or a process? Is it always something handmade? Is it just a marketing buzzword? The exhibition Useful/Beautiful: Why Craft Matters, aims to challenge preconceptions, spark interest and inspire debate about the role craft can play in culture, identity and society. 'Why does craft matter today?’, is the question the inaugural Harewood Biennial, curated by design critic Hugo Macdonald, posed...