Weaving life's rich tapestry

Have you noticed how old fashioned handicrafts like needlepoint and lacemaking are coming back into vogue lately? I’ve spotted embroidery, crochet and patchwork everywhere from art galleries and craft fairs to niche boutiques and trend-setting chain stores.

Another curious trend is that tapestry is becoming rather popular, not just for wall-hangings, but also as fabric to cover furniture and cushions.






















The practice of weaving is said to be meditative as well as enjoyable, perhaps that’s why it’s become fashionable again recently? However, traditional weaving is not so much ‘make do and mend’ as DIY manufacture. There’s a real art to creating your own textiles – and don't even bank on saving money in the process…

Nevertheless, one way of cutting your coat to suit your cloth (sorry) is to purchase a second-hand loom. And, if you’re tempted to master this rustic craft, we may have just the thing at ShopCurious – a Glimakra Ideal weaving loom, which we’re selling for less than half the current market price.






















If you’re already skilled at producing your own unique, homespun creations (like Edward Taylor, whose handiwork can be seen above right), this could be a curiously useful purchase - or even an investment towards your future in sustainable design. If not, you can find some lovely vintage tapestries at specialist galleries, or antiques fairs (see above left).

By the way, any weavers reading this post are invited to share their work by adding a link in the comments below.

Will you?

Timeless textiles

QR codes remind me of the classical inspired look of former RCA graduate (now honorary fellow and visiting professor), Sue Timney, whose work was recently on show at London’s Fashion and Textiles Museum.

Back in the early 1980s, finding someone to buy your designs meant trekking half way around the world – in her case to Japan, where her printed silk scarves, shirts, ties, ceramics and stationery were snapped up by luxury retailers, enabling her and ex-partner, Grahame Fowler, to expand their Timney-Fowler business in the UK. Since 2001, Timney has concentrated mainly on private and commercial interiors projects, and is known for her distinctive monochrome styling. She’s also designed restaurants and styled Joseph’s interior shop, ‘Pour la Maison.’








































The exhibition featured a lot of her 1990s work, which was developed for fashion and interiors, using images recurring throughout the cut out work of Timney Fowler – statues, architectural details, cutlery, furniture, clocks, musical instruments, animals, heraldic symbols, kitchen implements and decorative frames.







































Clocks and clock faces have been something of a trademark of her style between 1985 and 2010. Many of the clock images are based on an original art deco railway clock, which was also on show at the exhibiton. Astronomy is another theme she’s interpreted in her uniquely bold manner.





























Emma Shipley’s printed textiles, currently on display at the RCA show, are equally stunning. Her drawings are inspired by botanical illustrations. Some are drawn by hand using graphite pencil on hot pressed paper to assure a ‘quiet asymmetry’, and other designs are developed using a computer, programmed to incorporate a random element into the process.



























As it happens, founder of the Fashion and Textiles Museum, fashion designer Zandra Rhodes, is also an RCA graduate. And, if you’re looking to invest in a piece of vintage textile design, we’ve a curiously collectable 1970s Zandra Rhodes painted lady silk scarf at ShopCurious.

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Bags of ancient bushido style...

This weekend we’ve got a distinctly Japanese flavour. I’m not sure if you’ve already seen the unusual handbags by British artisan designer Vivien Hew at ShopCurious? Viv’s latest ‘Bushido’ collection is inspired by the five moral codes of the Samurai Warriors.











“I was intrigued by the contradictions; the image of the ferocious head-carrying warrior in battle with the dignified, artistic, and spiritual, tea-drinking individual. I sought to separate the myth from the reality and to try to acquire some understanding of their conceptions of the world,” she explained to me.




Apparently the Samurai were habitual recyclers of armour; whether this was booty acquired on the battlefield, or heirlooms passed down from generation to generation. They frequently replaced the lacing of their armour to repair, update or personalise their battledress. Vivien also uses recycled materials wherever possible. Much of the leather in her products comes from recycled leather garments.

Personally, I love the funky Samurai tassels, however, probably the most unique thing about Vivien’s highly collectable bags is the woven fabric. Not only are the bags handmade, but the textiles and trims for every single one of them are also individually created by hand. Vivien says, “I drew on the vibrancy, the symmetry and order of the armour for my fabric designs. I used the vertical and horizontal stripes of the armour scales but made them less ordered and less predictable.”





I’ve noticed that all things Japanese are gaining ground over here too, from paper and origami in product design and art, to sculptural folding and pleating effects in fashion. I think we might be even see the rise of more curious fashion sub-cultures here too, like the gothic Lolita trend, featured in my post today at The Dabbler.

Do let me know what you think.

Will you?

Quilts and curiously sunny patchwork purses

My visit to the new Quilts exhibition at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum was infinitely more rewarding than anticipated. This show is as much a feast for the mind as it is a visual delight - and a must for all lovers of textiles and fashion.








The quilts on display depict the ‘hidden histories and untold stories’ of fabrics, families and creative endeavour over several centuries. Quilts are often symbolic of rites of passage - births, deaths and marriages – and the antique cot quilts in this exhibition are among the most exquisite.





There’s plenty of emotion attached to quilts, but over the centuries, the type of feelings associated with the art of patchwork seem to have changed significantly. Quilts are popularly regarded as precious items, generating ‘memories of warmth, comfort and security’ – and are often handed down as heirlooms from generation to generation.






From Victorian times, however, handicrafts like patchwork were used as a means of promoting social improvement. The Temperance Movement even adopted the pastime as a displacement activity for military personnel and those who might otherwise be lured by the temptations of gambling and alcohol.





Later examples include quilts made on prison ships, in prison of war camps, military hospitals and even at HMP Wandsworth – whose magnificent quilt is a sort of tragicomic send up of life in jail.

More recent works seem even farther removed from the cosy connotations of vintage pieces, focusing on human mortality and suffering, as well as the plight of women (traditionally those involved with the craft of quilting). Exhibits include Grayson Perry’s vivid, foetus-littered Right to Life quilt – a commentary on the anti-abortion debate in 1990s America (see right).




There are some common threads (excuse the pun) throughout the exhibition; the recycling of used fabrics, for instance – including old pyjamas, and even black-out curtains after the Second World War. And some recurring themes - like geography, nature and the passing of time.

Patriotism is also the subject of many pieces, with royalty, crests and messages of loyalty to the home country featuring widely. One of the quilts, dating from the early 19th century, has a splendid depiction of George III reviewing his troops in Hyde Park, part of which can be seen left (click on to enlarge and look out for the strange sun and moon motifs).






I’m curious to know more about the rather oddly located suns and moons, placed towards the centre of this quilt. They remind me of the sunshine patches on the quirky new handmade purses at ShopCurious.






Most of the quilts on display are so detailed, one could spend days admiring the craftsmanship and investigating the individual meaning of each masterpiece on show. Award yourself the luxury of at least a couple of hours to indulge your imagination and senses at this wonderful exhibition...

Will you?

Sensible tips for timeless style

I get the impression that ‘sensible style’ is rather topical, so I’m going to stick with this theme for a little longer – especially as I’m not feeling entirely convinced that the much cited ‘green shoots of recovery’ are quite so nearby as many seem to imagine. At this juncture, it might be appropriate to look to our forebears for guidance on what to do if times get really tough. The fashion designers of yesteryear certainly came up with some curiously clever ideas for cutting their costs (and their cloth), whilst managing to produce stunningly stylish designs that are still appreciated to this day.





From the late 1920s, for instance, Madeleine Vionnet introduced the bias-cut method of dressmaking, whereby cloth was cut diagonal to the grain of the fabric, creating the flattering effect of clinging to the contours of the body and accentuating natural female curves. Popularized by Mme Vionnet, ‘Queen of the bias cut’, and others during the 1930s, bias cut garments combined ease of movement and comfort with glamorous fabrics like chiffon, silk and satin – as in the dress pictured left.




Vionnet’s designs involved draping and often required much more fabric than would be necessary when using a conventional pattern. However, during the 1940s, the bias-cut technique was employed to enable dressmakers to use up all their spare scraps of fabric. Towards the 1950s, the emergence of factory manufactured clothing meant that the use of fabrics became more standardized and less original. Contemporary British designer, Christa Davis, was one of the first to re-introduce the bias-cut method to dressmaking in the early 1990s. Some of her latest designs, many of which are made with recycled textiles and limited edition printed silks (like the dress pictured right), are now available online from ShopCurious.





Other practical-but-stylish solutions to economic constraints included creating clothing and accessories that were made to last. Have you heard of a world-renowned, original innovation of the 1940s, called the Corde handbag?








We’ve got some fabulous examples of these classic vintage bags on our website – and they’re in excellent condition too, which just goes to show how very hard-wearing they truly are.







By the 1950s, people started to travel more and those that ventured abroad, or on holidays away from home, were careful to be as economical as possible. Ladies siphoned off their perfumes and powders into small canisters to take away with them in compact little vanity cases - especially designed to accommodate everything a glamorous girl might require. They don’t seem to make these sets of usefully designed containers any more, though occasionally you might be lucky enough to find a perfectly preserved vanity case, complete with retro receptacles, like this one.

Do let us know if you’ve got any more sensible tips for timeless style, vintage or modern.

Will you?

Curious colours of nature in fashion

Earlier this year, I attended a talk by Abigail Ingram on the subject of ‘structural colours in nature’. She asked important questions like ‘why are some animals and plants brighter than others?’ She also mentioned a few naturally colourful species in passing: the dragonfly, the lavender beetle, the chalk blue butterfly, the shoal fish and the peacock (or at least its feathers).








Apparently, it was Newton (in the 1700s), who first linked the diffraction of light with the structure of peacock feathers. However, it wasn’t until the early 1970s that physicists became fully aware of structural colour.



It’s interesting how in some insects, like butterflies, the dorsal side of the wings is pure colour, but the other side is camouflaged. The males are often very brightly coloured, apparently to ward off others from their territories and not, as Darwin thought, to attract females. Butterfly wings are actually like a multi-layer reflection of colour – of the sort you might see in an oil slick or an opal stone. The morpho butterfly, left, is the perfect example of this – in fact morpho butterfly structures are applied to products such as makeup and there's even a ‘morpho tex fabric’.



As Kate Fletcher explains in her book, Sustainable Fashion and Textiles: “Developed by Teijin, Japan, and inspired by the iridescent morpho butterfly of South America, Morphotex achieves its colour by causing light to diffract and interfere with the fibre in ways that can amplify certain wavelengths. This creates brilliant colours to the viewer through the use of physical structure rather than with pigment or dye...






In effect, the surface layers play with light and reproduce a coloured fabric without the energy and resource impacts associated with dyeing and printing. The Morphotex fibre has a multilayer stack structure made up of 61 layers of polyester and nylon, each with different refractive indexes. By controlling the thickness of the layers, it shows variations in the four primary colours: red, blue, green and yellow, according to the angle and intensity of light"

By using nano-scale structures, it's possible to create new paints, fabrics and cosmetics – what’s more they’re free of toxins and require less energy to manufacture. Modern technology also draws upon this phenomenon in nature to create holograms – useful in anti-counterfeiting measures for credit cards. Using a similar technique, brightly coloured sea creatures, called Aphrodite, right, can also be used for optical purposes. Biomimicry is probably the ultimate eco-friendly activity, since it's all about using nature and natural ecosystems as a model for innovative solutions to our own design requirements.

Hopefully, I've got all these facts right ... I'm not an expert on matters of science. In fact, generally speaking, men seem to be much more absorbed by the wonders of modern technology than women. However, biomimetrics is an area where modern technology, practical design and colour coincide - as in the case of these curiously colourful and stylish phone cases by Jack Spade, currently on sale at ShopCurious.










They're rather unique and could be perfect if you're looking for a useful, but unusual gift for any man (or woman) who owns a Blackberry or an iPhone - and who also likes to stand out from the crowd.

Are you?