Narrative Textiles: Tell Your Story in Mixed Media and Stitch, Ailish Henderson

In Narrative Textiles, cloth becomes memory writ large — stitched, printed, collaged and re-imagined as a way of making the personal visible. Ailish Henderson invites the reader into her playful, spirited textile world where every piece of fabric carries a whisper of story: a family snapshot, an old garment, a beloved pet, a place once visited. The book is less a step-by-step manual and more a creative manifesto — urging makers to weave fragments of their life into cloth with honesty and instinct, drawing on found or recycled materials, vintage fabrics and sentimental ephemera. Its generous illustrations reveal vibrant mixed-media and stitched works that ripple with colour, character and quirky charm, showing that narrative is not only in imagery but in material choice and textile gesture.

The structure is part inspiration, part practical insight: start with mood boards and sketchbooks, learn how to curate materials, explore screenprinting, appliqué and both hand and machine stitching, then follow the narrative thread through techniques that capture personality and presence. Contributors such as Aran Illingworth, Jenni Dutton, Woo Jin Joo and Jordan Cunliffe broaden the book’s scope, illustrating how storytelling through textiles can encompass identity, history, travel, family and even famous faces. In Selvedge terms, it is an invitation to slow-see your own life through cloth — not as decoration but as archive, voice and poetic trace.

About the Author
Ailish Henderson is a British textile artist, researcher and teacher whose practice navigates the borderlands between stitch, mixed media and personal narrative. She exhibits widely — including at the Knitting and Stitching Show — and leads workshops and lectures for organisations such as the Embroiderers’ Guild and the Women’s Institute. Former editor-in-chief of the Mr X Stitch website, Henderson has published articles in magazines including Embroidery, Selvedge and Crafts, and her work embraces both playful experimentation and deep emotional resonance. She lives in Kibblesworth, Tyne and Wear, where her textile art continues to blur the boundaries between craft, collage and story.

Publication date: 2024
Publisher: Batsford Books
Pages: 128
Binding: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781849948821