Textile Nature

An inspirational guide to using nature in textile art, with step-by-step projects Plants, flowers, gardens, insects and birds are a rich source of inspiration for artists and designers of all kinds. This beautiful guide demonstrates how to get the most out of your surroundings to create original and unique pieces in textiles. Beginning with a chapter on drawing from nature, the book demonstrates how to use sketchbooks and create mood boards to explore your local environment and landscape. The author demonstrates how to make small pieces such as folding books based on observational drawing and stitch. Moving on to a section on floral inspiration, the author shows how to use plants and flowers in your work, from using stencilled flower motifs as embellishment to printing with plants onto fabric and making simple relief prints. Finally, the taking flight chapter demonstrates how to move into three-dimensions and sculptural work with birds and insects made from cloth. Featuring step-by-step projects as well as work from contemporary artists, makers and collaborative groups throughout, this practical and beautiful guide shows how practitioners of all kinds can draw from the natural world for making and inspiration.

Harness the beauty of the natural world to create unique textile art pieces. Learn how to create beautiful textile art inspired by details in nature in this practical and inspirational guide. Acclaimed textile artist Marian Jazmik shows how to use unusual recycled and repurposed materials combined with traditional fabric and thread. Marian reveals the secrets of her lushly textured and sculptural embroidered pieces, from initial photograph to finished object. Exploring nature as a constant source of inspiration, she shows how to turn a chance spotting of lichen on a tree trunk or a scattering of autumn leaves into glorious textile or mixed-media art. Marian goes on to explore the myriad of techniques she uses in her work, including: How to begin with photography, homing in on details in nature. How to manipulate images to create microscopic and surprising detail. How to translate the images into 3-D work, using an eclectic mix of natural and man-made textiles, as well as unusual recycled materials otherwise be destined for landfill (packaging, plastics and household DIY products). Hand and machine embroidery. Dyeing, printing and painting. Using heat gun and soldering iron to create heavily textured surfaces. Packed with practical tips, inspiration and illustrated throughout with glorious examples of Marian’s work, this book will provide you with endless imaginative ideas for distilling the wonders of nature into your own textile art.

More and more textile artists are using natural processes in their work, from dyeing with rust to working with found and scavenged items, and this book is the first to bring these increasingly popular techniques together. It promotes a way of working creatively with what is close at hand, whether gathered on walks by the seashore or collected in your garden, and working in tune with natural processes, bringing the rhythms and unpredictability of nature into your work. Examples of this type of working include rust dyeing embroidered fabric to give it a natural patina, dyeing with garden fruits or seaweed, weaving with pieces of beachcombed fibre and printing with found objects. In all of this work nature is directly harnessed to make its mark. The book is illustrated with the finest examples of contemporary embroidery and textile-art work using nature, by artists whose practice is tied up with their experience of and respect for the natural environment, often capturing a very strong sense of place and a feeling of calmness and contemplation.

An inspiring step-by-step guide to creating contemporary textile artworks themed on nature. Stitched Textiles: The Natural World is the fourth title in this successful theme-based series. It contains an extensive section on techniques, featuring step-by-step guides to machine- and hand-stitching, attaching embellishments and found objects to your work; painting and printing on fabrics including cotton, silk and Khadi paper; and using objects found in nature, such as leaves, to make unique and iconic prints. The book includes four inspirational projects based on different facets of the natural world: Ocean, Rainforest, Botany, Birds and Animals. Stitched Textiles: The Natural World also features examples of the author, Steph Redfern's own intricate and detailed works based on nature, exploring the means by which the pieces have been created, and the wonderful stories behind Steph's journey as an artist. The wealth of information and visual stimuli in Stitched Textiles: The Natural World is intended to inspire the reader to create their own works inspired by nature, beginning by exploring the use of sketchbooks and study pages, progressing to picking out iconic elements from sketches and photographs, and eventually assembling a stunning, personal piece of stitched textile work on fabric or on cotton-blend Khadi paper, applying handstitch in metallic threads, or machine stitch in whimsical and beautiful patterns, and embellishing with natural beads or found objects.

Harness the beauty of the natural world to create unique textile art pieces. Learn how to create beautiful textile art inspired by details in nature in this practical and inspirational guide. Acclaimed textile artist Marian Jazmik shows how to use unusual recycled and repurposed materials combined with traditional fabric and thread. Marian reveals the secrets of her lushly textured and sculptural embroidered pieces, from initial photograph to finished object. Exploring nature as a constant source of inspiration, she shows how to turn a chance spotting of lichen on a tree trunk or a scattering of autumn leaves into glorious textile or mixed-media art. Marian goes on to explore the myriad of techniques she uses in her work, including: How to begin with photography, homing in on details in nature. How to manipulate images to create microscopic and surprising detail. How to translate the images into 3-D work, using an eclectic mix of natural and man-made textiles, as well as unusual recycled materials otherwise be destined for landfill (packaging, plastics and household DIY products). Hand and machine embroidery. Dyeing, printing and painting. Using heat gun and soldering iron to create heavily textured surfaces. Packed with practical tips, inspiration and illustrated throughout with glorious examples of Marian’s work, this book will provide you with endless imaginative ideas for distilling the wonders of nature into your own textile art.

Discover how to use natural materials to print on any surface, from paper and fabric to ceramics, wood, and walls. With simple step-by-step instructions and clear photographs, Laura Bethmann encourages crafters of all levels to create original nature prints with leaves, flowers, fruits, shells, stones, and more. Her unique project ideas include stationery printed with maple leaves, a clothes hamper printed with scallop shells, and a pillow printed with cabbage. Before you know it, you’ll be designing one-of-a-kind nature prints to reflect your unique personality and style.

New ideas for working with nature to nurture creativity in felted and embroidered textile art. Immerse yourself in nature and rewild your creative practice with inspiration from textile artist Jeanette Appleton. With a focus on the versatile medium of felt, she takes readers through a series of ideas for working with nature to boost creativity, inspire, and make us more sustainable as artists. The book covers: • How to capture the nuances of nature through creating exciting felt surfaces – lines of sea, frosted puddles, hedge and grass – and how to translate them into subtleties of texture and stitch. • Transforming recycled cloth by bonding memories, mixed-media and found objects into your work. • Cutting and repairing techniques: making cuts and slits in the layers of fabric to reveal the secret strata of nature beneath, echoing the planet's fragility. • How to make the best use of sketchbooks, maps and mapping to record inspiration from time spent in nature. • A variety of strategies for overcoming artist's block, from revisiting past diaries and sketchbooks to interacting differently with your local environment. Throughout, the author constantly challenges the felt process, discovering a new creative working practice through connecting with the outside world. Richly illustrated with exciting examples of the author's beautiful and reflective work, this inspirational and practical guide will appeal to textile and felt artists of all levels.

Protective Textiles from Natural Resources provides systematic coverage of the fundamentals, production methods, processing techniques, characterization techniques, properties and applications of natural textile products for protective purposes. The subject of this book is an important kind of technical textile designed to protect the wearer from injuries, illness and death. They offer enhanced protection against phenomena including heat, cold, flame, chemical, biological, nuclear agents, radiation, disaster and even ballistics. As no single type of clothing can be adequate for all kinds of protection, extensive research is carried out to develop protective clothing for specialized civilian and military applications. The latest research on the use of natural fibres in PPE is also covered, which could make a significant contribution to the fight against the spread of COVID-19. This comprehensive guide explores a wide variety of themes from material processing and design to finished products, through protection against specific hazards to specific applications, including all significant new developments on natural materials for protective textiles. Explains the latest technologies related to fibre extraction from natural sources, chemical treatments, weave constructions, fabric finishes and coatings. Includes the latest research on natural fibers in personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect wearers from bacterial and viral contamination. Explains the state of the art in testing methods and standards for protective clothing.