Weaving: Textiles That Shape Themselves, Ann Richards

Weaving Textiles That Shape Themselves explores a wonderfully inventive idea: how woven fabrics—flat from the loom—can transform, by themselves, once washed, into textures that ripple, pleat or crinkle. Ann Richards shows how the use of high-twist “active” yarns—often contrasted with more stable “passive” fibres—and mindful weave structure release stored energy during finishing, so cloth comes alive.

The book balances strong visual inspiration (with examples from makers like Reiko Sudo, Junichi Arai, Ann Sutton and others) with technical clarity. It provides both beginners and experienced weavers with design ideas, pattern suggestions, guidance on yarn choice, structure, finishing, and even options for “loom-to-body” garments that minimise cutting and sewing.

About the Author
Ann Richards is a textile artist, designer-maker and educator formerly of West Surrey College of Art & Design. Early in her career she trained and worked in biology, an influence that surfaces in her textile practice in its attention to natural form, structure and material behaviour. She has exhibited widely in the UK and abroad, has been awarded the MITI Prize (Tokyo), and her work is held in public collections including the Crafts Study Centre and Design Museum Denmark.

Publication date: 2012
Publisher: The Crowood Press
Pages: 192
ISBN: 9781847973191