Reading the Thread: Cloth and Communication. Lesley Millar, Alice Kettle

Reading the Thread delves into the intimate narratives woven into textiles, tracing the stories that fabrics silently carry across cultures and centuries. From artisanal hand-weaving to contemporary textile design, the book explores the threads that connect materiality, memory, and meaning. Richly illustrated, it reveals how cloth not only shapes identity and social rituals but also reflects broader cultural, technological, and environmental shifts. Rare examples of woven and embroidered textiles, many rarely seen outside private collections, bring to life the textures, patterns, and techniques that define global textile heritage.

The book’s approach balances rigorous scholarship with a tactile, sensory appreciation of textiles. By examining weaving, dyeing, and stitching in context, it charts the delicate interplay between craftsmanship and creativity, illuminating how each thread contributes to a story larger than itself. Essays from leading textile historians and designers situate these objects within wider artistic and social histories, inviting readers to read fabrics as texts and see design as living tradition.

About the Author
Lesley Millar is Emerita Professor of Textile Culture at the University for the Creative Arts, UK. She has curated numerous international touring textile exhibitions, particularly featuring artists from Japan and the UK.

Alice Kettle is Professor of Textile Arts at Manchester School of Art, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. She is co-author of Machine Stitch Perspectives (2010), Hand Stitch Perspectives (2012), and Collaboration Through Craft (2013). Her recent editorial work includes The Erotic Cloth (2018) and Spaces and Places (2021), both co-edited with Lesley Millar.

Publication date: 2024
Publisher: Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Pages: 256
ISBN: 9781350320482