From our earliest ancestors to babies born today, fabric is a necessary part of our everyday lives, but it's also an opportunity for creativity, symbolism, culture and connection. Traveling across the world and bringing history to life, bestselling author Victoria Finlay investigates how and why people have made and used cloth. A century ago in Wales, women would sew their own funeral clothes over tea with friends. In Papua New Guinea, bark is stripped...

This program is a fast paced introduction to fabric science. Viewers learn about fabrics that repair broken hearts, stop bullets, fight fire, stop water, and enable people to fly. They tour a textile mill and watch raw acrylic become fabric. This program teaches how to recognise the basic weaves, how fibers become yarns, and how fabric is made by traditional hand looms as well as high speed computerised machines. (Learning Seed, USA)

"The story of humanity is the story of textiles--as old as civilization itself. Textiles created empires and powered invention. They established trade routes and drew nations' borders. Since the first thread was spun, fabric has driven technology, business, politics, and culture. In The Fabric of Civilization, Virginia Postrel traces this surprising history, exposing the hidden ways textiles have made our world. The origins of chemistry lie in the...

Discover the rich creative possibilities of fragmentation and repair in textile art. Fragmentation and repair are two of the biggest buzzwords in textile and mixed-media art. In this fascinating book, renowned artist Shelley Rhodes explores both concepts, with a wealth of fresh ideas and practical advice. Drawing on her own practice, Shelley explains how she reconstructs and reassembles cloth, paper and other materials to create new pieces, often...

Transform your ideas on creative fabric embellishment for textile art that's full meaning and astounding texture, in this inspiring book by award-winning textile art tutor and artist Jan Dowson.Whether it's a landscape, a garden, an animal or a powerful memory of a place or object, Jan shows you how she develops them all into beautifully stitched representations that exude awe-inspiring detail, colour and expression. Discover Jan's unique sketchbook...

In this book you'll create your own fabric inventions as you learn to make wearables, playthings, and decorative items using textile arts--both old and new. Easy projects using will get you started knitting, adding color to your wardrobe with silkscreen and batik, and transforming old clothing into useful items. Then you'll find out how soft circuits can give your creations personality with light, sound, and motion. Fabric and Fiber Inventions will...